- Offers an elegant yet accessible introduction to the political economy of agricultural economics and food policies
- Presents both theoretical arguments and empirical evidence
- Documents major changes and variations in agricultural and food policies
- Blends a firm analytical grasp of welfare economics principles with a nuanced understanding of how ideology drives political economy
- Emphasizes the importance of interactions between institutions and economic and political forces
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- About this book
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Food and agriculture have been subject to heavy-handed government interventions throughout much of history and across the globe, both in developing and in developed countries. Today, more than half a trillion US dollars are spent by some governments to support farmers, while other governments impose regulations and taxes that hurt farmers. Some policies, such as price regulations and tariffs, distribute income but reduce total welfare by introducing economic distortions. Other policies, such as public investments in research, food standards, or land reforms, may increase total welfare, but these policies come also with distributional effects. These distributional effects influence the preferences of interest groups and in turn influence policy decisions. Political considerations are therefore crucial to understand how agricultural and food policies are determined, to identify the constraints within which welfare-enhancing reforms are possible (or not), and finally to understand how coalitions can be created to stimulate growth and reduce poverty.
- About the authors
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Johan Swinnen is Professor of Economics and Director of the LICOS-Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance at the University of Leuven, Belgium. He is also Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, a part-time Visiting Professor at the Centre for Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University, USA, and Mercator Fellow at the University of Gottingen, Germany. Swinnen has previously served as President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, Lead Economist at the World Bank, and Economic Advisor at the European Commission.
- Table of contents (13 chapters)
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Introduction
Pages 3-12
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Political Coalitions in Agricultural and Food Policies
Pages 13-34
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Factors Influencing Policy Choices
Pages 35-66
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The Development Paradox
Pages 69-86
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Anti-Trade Bias and the Political Economy of Instrument Choice
Pages 87-94
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Table of contents (13 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies
- Authors
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- Johan Swinnen
- Series Title
- Palgrave Studies in Agricultural Economics and Food Policy
- Copyright
- 2018
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan US
- Copyright Holder
- The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
- eBook ISBN
- 978-1-137-50102-8
- DOI
- 10.1057/978-1-137-50102-8
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-1-137-50101-1
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- XIX, 254
- Number of Illustrations
- 35 b/w illustrations
- Topics
