TY - JOUR

T1 - Measuring agricultural policy bias

T2 - General equilibrium analysis of fifteen developing countries

AU - Jensen, Henning Tarp

AU - Robinson, Sherman

AU - Tarp, Finn

N1 - JEL classification: D58, O10, Q18

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - Measurement is a key issue in the literature on price incentive bias induced by trade policy. We introduce a general equilibrium measure of the relative effective rate of protection, which generalizes earlier protection measures. For our fifteen sample countries, results indicate that the agricultural price incentive bias generally perceived to exist during the 1980s was largely eliminated during the 1990s. Results also demonstrate that general equilibrium effects and country-specific characteristics are crucial for determining the sign and magnitude of agricultural bias. Our comprehensive protection measure is therefore uniquely suited to capture the full impact of trade policies on relative agricultural price incentives.

AB - Measurement is a key issue in the literature on price incentive bias induced by trade policy. We introduce a general equilibrium measure of the relative effective rate of protection, which generalizes earlier protection measures. For our fifteen sample countries, results indicate that the agricultural price incentive bias generally perceived to exist during the 1980s was largely eliminated during the 1990s. Results also demonstrate that general equilibrium effects and country-specific characteristics are crucial for determining the sign and magnitude of agricultural bias. Our comprehensive protection measure is therefore uniquely suited to capture the full impact of trade policies on relative agricultural price incentives.

U2 - 10.1093/ajae/aaq043

DO - 10.1093/ajae/aaq043

M3 - Journal article

VL - 92

SP - 1136

EP - 1148

JO - American Journal of Agricultural Economics

JF - American Journal of Agricultural Economics

SN - 0002-9092

IS - 4

ER -