Distortions to Agricultural Incentives: Global Perspectives - Softcover

"The international agricultural economy is bewilderingly complex, and an up-to-date study of economic policies and their effects has been sorely needed. Kym Anderson has done a remarkable job of leading such a huge ambitious study. This volume provides the synthesis and will serve as the standard reference for years to come, documenting the impacts of current policies toward agriculture and analyzing changes over the past several decades. With increasing concerns about global food supplies, it should be required reading for academics and policy makers seeking to understand the current structure of the international food economy and considering policy alternatives." - Anne O. Krueger, Professor, Johns Hopkins University and former First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
"Food and agriculture are key contributors to global welfare, and no sector is more prone to government intervention. Kym Anderson and his collaborators have measured that intervention over half a century and shown that it is still alive and kicking. Data and quantification are the necessary precursors to effective research and to policy reform, so this excellent book provides a major impetus to rationalising international trade policy in agriculture. It is a must-read for all policy makers and students who care about feeding the world." - L. Alan Winters, Professor, University of Sussex and Chief Economist, UK Department for International Development
"On the basis of a very large body of new empirical evidence from case studies covering 75 countries, Kym Anderson provides the most comprehensive analytical assessment ever done of the world's agricultural trade policies and the changes during the last 50 years. As the Doha negotiations are on the verge of collapsing and associated benefits foregone, this book presents very strong and timely arguments for re-vitalizing the trade negotiations to promote global economic growth and poverty alleviation and to help achieving the Millennium Development Goals. This book is a must read for scholars and students of agricultural development and international trade and others who wish to better understand the costs of the current anti-trade bias existing in both developing and developed countries and what to do about it." - Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Professor, Cornell University and Copenhagen University, former Director-General of the International Food Policy Research Institute, and World Food Prize Laureate
"This book provides absolutely unique information on agricultural policies around the world, in an internationally comparable manner. It will serve a whole generation of analysts and policy makers with a benchmark against which to assess the pursuit of future policies in world agriculture." - Stefan Tangermann, Emeritus Professor, University of Göttingen and former OECD Director for Trade and Agriculture

This book brings together analytical narratives of the evolution over the past half-century of policy-imposed distortions to farmer incentives and food prices in 75 countries, drawing on a new, consistent set of estimates spanning 90 percent of the world's agricultural production.