Novel Indicators of the Trade and Welfare Effects of Agricultural Distortions in OECD Countries

Anderson, Kym ; Croser, Johanna

关键词: ABSOLUTE VALUE;    AGGREGATE TRADE;    AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES;    AGRICULTURAL INCENTIVES;    AGRICULTURAL MARKETS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5404
RP-ID  :  WPS5404

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Agricultural markets in OECD countrieshave long been highly distorted by government policies.Traditional weighted average aggregates of the pricedistortions involved, such as producer and consumer supportestimates can be poor indicators of the traderestrictiveness and economic welfare losses associated withthem, especially if a country's support estimates varya lot across the product range. Certainly estimates of tradeand welfare effects of price supports can be obtained fromsector or economy-wide models using price elasticityestimates, but the results can be contentious if there is noconsensus on what model specification and elasticityparameters to use. This paper shows that, if there is awillingness to accept simple assumptions about elasticities,it is possible to generate indicators of the welfare andtrade restrictiveness of agricultural policies using no morethan the price and quantity data needed to generate producerand consumer support estimates. These new indexes thusprovide an attractive supplement to the current policymonitoring regime developed by the OECD Secretariat.