Multifunctional agriculture, policy measures and the WTO: the Norwegian case

One of the questions debated in the ongoing WTO agricultural negotiations is whether 'trade-distorting' subsidies, or subsidies outside the 'green box', are needed in order to pursue non-trade concerns. The term 'multifunctional agriculture' is increasingly applied to describe non-trade concerns. This article focuses on how to achieve the multifunctional goals that nations may have with minimal trade-distortion. In the first part of the article, this is done by a literature review and a theoretical analysis. The findings are then converted into an analysis of possible policy formulations in a Norwegian context using a partial equilibrium model. The article argues that multifunctionality hardly can justify the use of market support, while it may justify production-related budget support if the positive externalities or public goods are produced jointly with or complementary to agricultural production. The article concludes with suggestions for WTO trade rules to prevent such policies from becoming a form of protectionism.     

Trade Reform and the Corn Market: Prospects for the World Trade Organization Negotiations on Agriculture

Government support and trade restrictions on agricultural commodities are among the most globally distorting protectionist policies. This is especially true with regards to corn. Vast production subsidies and import barriers, primarily within the European Union and China, have artificially inflated the global supply of this commodity, while restricting the available consumer markets. This impact is augmented by the preferential treatment granted in these countries to the production and importation of the best available substitute to corn, soybeans. Using an econometric model with commodity data over the past 20 years, this article predicts the likely impact of potential World Trade Organization (WTO) trade pacts on these corn trade distortions. Despite the WTO setback in Seattle, the vast global benefits resulting from agricultural trade liberalization in corn alone validate a continued push towards freer trade.     

Welfare Impacts of Alternative Public Policies for Agricultural Pollution Control in an Open Economy: A General Equilibrium Framework

A general equilibrium approach is used to evaluate the welfare impacts of alternative policies for reducing agricultural pollution in an open economy with preexisting distortions caused by income taxes and agricultural subsidies. The policies examined here include the removal of distortionary agricultural subsidies. We find that even though these distortions are small compared to others in the economy, removing them and imposing nitrogen reduction subsidies and/or output taxes can enhance welfare and reduce nitrogen pollution; thereby leading to a substantial double dividend. The relative efficiency of the alternative policies examined here depends on the level of the nitrogen reduction target.     

THE SECTORAL INCIDENCE OF PROTECTION AND ZIMBABWEAN AGRICULTURE

This article applies the literature on ‘incidence analysis’ to the case of Zimbabwe, the main hypothesis being that industrial protection indirectly taxes agricultural exports by increasing the price of non-tradeables. The extent to which industrial protection increases the price of non-tradeables is measured by Sjaastad's incidence parameter. The study shows that there exists a generally high level of incidence and finds major differences in ‘true protection’ across categories of exportables and individual agricultural export commodities. The calculated price effects of industrial protection indicate substantial indirect disincentives to the production of agricultural exportables. On average, these are more than offset by direct subsidies in the case of beef. For other agricultural export commodities, indirect taxes either overcompensate direct subsidies or exacerbate the negative direct protection resulting in extremely high true taxation.     

山东省农业支持政策调查

主要调查研究入世以来山东省农业支持政策中的国内支持和市场准入问题;对国内支持的调查研究包括农业财政补贴政策、农村税费改革、农业保险制度,对市场准入的调查研究主要围绕农产品的进出口而展开;提出若干建设性思考。     

耕地资源价值重建与农业补贴--一种解决"三农"问题的政策取向

研究目的:从耕地资源的价值重建出发,探索在WTO<农业协议>框架下的农业补贴政策,提出一种缓解"三农"问题的新思路.研究方法:文献资料法和逻辑分析法.研究结果:耕地问题和"三农"问题息息相关,而耕地资源价值重建为农业补贴政策提供了理论依据和实施标准,农业补贴政策则为我国当前农民增收提供了一种政策途径.研究结论:(1)全面实现耕地资源的经济价值、认识价值的生产价值、道德价值的生产价值、以及审美价值的生产价值,对农民进行与农业生产不挂钩的直接补贴;(2)实现耕地资源的生态价值,对农民进行直接的农业环境保护补贴;(3)实现耕地资源的社会价值,建立农村社会保障体系并根据社会价值量的大小为农民支付部分保险费用.     

Economy-wide reform and agricultural recovery: Observations of economic Darwinism among transition economies

The fitness of an economy and its prospects for continued prosperity will be measured and determined by its robustness and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Some countries in transition are adapting much more easily than others to rapid changes in the orientation of their economy, the common objective of which is to achieve economic growth through the adoption of a range of characteristics generally associated with a market economy. Economic growth does not have to be very fast, but it must be efficient and sustainable. Policy adjustments must address political economy concerns, while seeking to achieve macroeconomic equilibrium and price stabilization, competitiveness, efficiency and flexibility, and the protection of the living standards of the most vulnerable population The process of agricultural sector reform will be determined both by economy-wide policies and sector-specific policies. This paper first outlines a taxonomy of the objectives of agricultural sector reform, and then discusses the way in which indirect price interventions (specifically exchange rate and interest rate policies, expansive fiscal policies and industrial protection policies), influence agricultural growth. Lessons of experience drawn from the UNDP/World Bank Trade Expansion Program structural and sectoral adjustment operations in Poland, and the cases of New Zealand and Chile are employed to illustrate not only the constraints that countries face in this regard, but also in identifying targets for further action. The third section presents what is called the architecture of incentives for agriculture'. In defining a strategy of agricultural sector reform, experience has shown that a structure of incentives can be developed that creates an environment ripe for agricultural growth-incentives relating, for example, to taxation, prices, foreign investment, privatization and demonopolization, decentralization and institutional reform. Special considerations that will require additional attention by policy-makers outside of this structure include the maintenance of GATT-legal principles in trade policies, issues relating to tariffication (including concerns about price risk management, food supply, and the role of food aid), input and credit subsidies as a means to correct for market failures, and the role of regional trading blocks in world trade.     

DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of disguised unemployment in less developed countries, which tends to lend support for agricultural development policies as the most effective means of eliminating such unemployment. In addition, it is shown that urban unemployment may also be remedied through such policies. The overall conclusion of the theoretical analysis is that agricultural policies in the less developed countries manifesting disguised and urban unemployment should, as a first target, aim at maintaining farming activities throughout the calendar year at levels achieved during peak seasons.
CHOMAGE DEGUISE ET DEVELOPPEMENT AGRICOLE – Ce mémoire présente une analyse théorique du chômage déguisé dans les pays sous-développes. ľanalyse tend à favoriser une politique de développement agricole comme moyen ďéliminer un tel chômage. En outre, il est démontré que ľon peut améliorer le chômage urbain par une telle politique. La conclusion principale c'est que la politique des jeunes nations (affligées de chômage et déguisé et urbain,) doit se concentrer premiérement à soutenir pendant toute ľannée le niveau ďemploi des périodes de la plus grande production.     

Trade and Environmental Policy: A Race to the Bottom?

The focus of this paper is the issue of regulatory chill and a race to the bottom in environmental standards and policies. In particular, it explores the possibility that resolution of this problem may lie in a more flexible application of the existing General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO) rules. The structure of the discussion is divided into four parts: (i) the standard analysis of trade and environmental policy is laid out; (ii) the theoretical analysis of and empirical evidence for the existence of pollution havens is reviewed; (iii) the main arguments as to why governments may weaken domestic environmental policy with greater trade liberalisation is outlined; and (iv) some recent analysis of border tax adjustments for environmental taxes is laid out, leading to the basic conclusion of the paper: a method for countering any tendency for regulatory chill and a race to the bottom in environmental policies is already embedded in existing GATT/WTO rules.     

Agriculture's 'multifunctionality' and the WTO

Are the agricultural policy reforms embodied in the Uruguay Round consistent with meeting domestic policy objectives such as providing adequate food security, environmental protection and viability of rural areas? This article examines the claim that agriculture deserves more price support and import protection than other sectors because of the non‐marketed externalities and public goods it produces jointly with marketable food and fibre (agriculture’s so‐called ‘multifunctionality’). Do these unrewarded positive externalities exceed the negative externalities from farming by more than the net positive externalities produced by other sectors? To what extent are those farmer‐produced spillovers under‐supplied, and what are the most efficient ways to boost their production to the socially optimal levels? The article concludes that there is little trade‐off required to meet domestic policy objectives on the one hand and agricultural protection reform objectives as embodied in WTO rules on the other.     

农业支持保护补贴促进规模农户种粮了吗?——基于全国农村固定观察点调查数据的分析

本文利用最新的全国农村固定观察点调查2016年和2017年两期数据,考察了农业支持保护补贴对规模农户种粮的影响,结果显示:第一,无论是纯粮食种植户还是粮食为主种植户,农业支持保护补贴皆显著扩大了规模农户的粮食播种面积;第二,农业支持保护补贴主要是通过促进规模农户转入更多土地来扩大粮食生产,对农户的种植结构没有显著影响。这表明,农业补贴改革取得了一定的效果,同时,加大对农地经营者的补贴支持可成为解决当前农地流转不畅、促进规模经营、保障粮食安全的一个重要手段。     

The Political Economy of Agricultural Statistics and Input Subsidies: Evidence from India,Nigeria and Malawi

The political economy of agricultural policies – why certain interventions may be preferred by political leaders rather than others – is well recognized. This paper explores a perspective that has previously been neglected: the political economy of the agricultural statistics. In developing economies, the data on agricultural production are weak. Because these data are assembled using competing methods and assumptions, the final series are subject to political pressure, particularly when the government is subsidizing agricultural inputs. This paper draws on debates on the evidence of a Green Revolution in India and the arguments on the effect of withdrawing fertilizer subsidies during structural adjustment in Nigeria, and finally the paper presents new data on the effect of crop data subsidies in Malawi. The recent agricultural census (2006/7) indicates a maize output of 2.1 million metric tonnes, compared to the previously widely circulated figures of 3.4 million metric tonnes. The paper suggests that ‘data’ are themselves a product of agricultural policies.     

International trade and agricultural development in developing countries: Significance of the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations

Liberalization of world trade in agricultural products ranks high on the agenda of the Uruguay Round. After a period of more than six years, however, the negotiations have not been concluded. Nevertheless, an outcome seems to be in sight. The agreement will most likely not result in a move to freer trade. It seems that domestic policies will become even more regulative than in the past in an attempt to cut exportable surpluses and to ease trade tensions among the main exporting nations. This paper explores possible impacts of the GATT Round on agricultural development in developing countries. Agricultural development is more than only growth in agricultural production or productivity. However, it is argued in the paper that other variables which also indicate agricultural development are often closely correlated with growth in production and productivity. Trade in agricultural products is not always an engine for agricultural development. If internal divergences are not accounted for by appropriate domestic policies, trade may be even harmful to agricultural development. Hence, empirical research based on cross-country analysis does not provide a clear answer about the role of trade for development. Past policies in industrialized countries have most likely had a negative effect on developing countries as a group; however, the effects differ widely across countries. Liberalization policies in industrialized countries would not just reverse these negative effects for developing countries. Price reduction in industrialized countries may not result in the often-cited production decline in the short term. Present X-inefficiency in agriculture will be reduced by liberalization, leading to an outward shift of the supply curve. Hence, liberalization may not lead to higher world market prices for temperate-zone products in the short and medium term. Apart from this, empirical models differ widely in the price effects they predict. The expected outcome of the Uruguay Round – increased regulation of domestic policies – is likely both more negative for developing countries than past protectionist policies and worse than an overall liberalization. World market prices will increase, uncertainty and instability can be expected to grow, and food aid may become less available. There will be a need to react to these challenges with measures on the international and national level. Initiatives to deal with food crises in developing countries and to stimulate liberalization in developing countries should be considered. Finally, developing countries should be made aware that their own domestic policies have a much greater economic impact than policies in other countries, even if the latter are as protectionist as current agricultural policies in the industrialized world.     

农业保险对农业固碳增效的影响及机制研究

[目的]探究农业保险通过改变农户生产行为,进而影响农业固碳效果的作用路径。[方法]文章基于2008—2019年中国30个省（市、自治区,不含港澳台和西藏）的种植业数据,构建有调节的并行多重中介效应模型,分析农业保险发展水平对农业净碳汇的作用机制。[结果]（1）从总体来看,当前农业保险的发展抑制了农业固碳效果,具体表现为农业保险增加了农业碳排放,而对农业碳吸收没有显著影响;（2）农业保险对农业净碳汇的影响有两条路径,一是农业保险通过提升种植专业化水平促进农业净碳汇,二是农业保险通过促进农业技术进步抑制农业净碳汇,但环境规制会削弱农业技术进步对农业净碳汇的抑制作用;（3）在异质性分析中,西部农业保险发展的农业固碳效果要好于东部,中部农业保险发展对农业固碳效果没有显著影响。[结论]（1）提高对专业化规模生产主体的农业保险保费补贴比例,以放大农业保险对农业净碳汇的促进作用;（2）设计绿色农业产品保险,引导农业生产者从事绿色农业生产经营,减少一般机械投入对农业净碳汇产生的负向影响;（3）提高农业保险政策与环境保护政策的配合程度,在发展农业保险的同时,加强农业环境保护政策的执行力度。     

Food Security and Agricultural Protection in South Korea

South Korea has been pursuing food self-sufficiency using high tariffs and high administrative prices in key agricultural and food markets. Using a dual approach to trade and trade restrictiveness indices, we analyze the impact of these market distortions on welfare and trade volume. Then, we compute second-best distortions, which minimize the welfare cost of meeting observed levels of self-sufficiency and production. We rationalize these second-best distortions to what could be claimed as legitimate protection under a "food security" (FS) box in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. FS-box protection is sensitive to changes in the definition and the extent of the FS objectives. We show that FS via production targets and reliance on imports would be more palatable to consumers and trade partners, while preserving income transfer to the farm sector.     

Measuring the Trade Restrictiveness of Domestic Support using the EU Common Agricultural Policy as an Example

We develop an index that measures the overall trade effects of domestic support payments. Our index is based on the Mercantilist Trade Restrictiveness Index (MTRI) and is capable of analysing the development of the trade restrictiveness of domestic support payments over time and across countries. It facilitates the evaluation of agricultural policy reforms introducing changes in the composition of domestic support payments. We conduct this analysis with a computable general equilibrium model that is extended to depict detailed agricultural policies using the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union (EU) as an example. For the representation of agricultural policies, we updated the underlying database by incorporating detailed EU domestic support payments taken from the OECD Producer Support Estimate (PSE) tables and reconcile PSE data with the WTO classification scheme. Our index confirms a decrease in trade distortion stemming from the implementation of decoupled support in the EU. In addition, the trade-equivalent protection rate shows that the trade restrictiveness of domestic support payments depends on the assumptions made with regard to the degree of decoupling of those payments.     

IMPACTS OF TAXES TO REDUCE AGRICHEMICAL USE WHEN FARM POLICY IS ENDOGENOUS

The economic impacts of policies to reduce water pollution from agriculture have been explored in a number of studies. A standard assumption in this literature is that farm income support policies are given. However, the modern public choice view of agricultural policy suggests that significant environmental initiatives in agriculture would likely be accompanied by changes in farm income policies to protect those with a significant stake in agriculture. We explore the potential effects of such compensating adjustments on the costs and effectiveness of taxes on polluting chemical inputs in US corn production. We find that compensating farm policy adjustments can greatly increase the costs and reduce the effectiveness of the environmental protection measure. The results also indicate the potentially high costs of poor policy co-ordination.     

Economic issues in tariffication: an overview

The agricultural trade liberalization proposal known as ‘ tariffication’ aims at converting all existing non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade into bound tariffs, and to reduce these tariffs over time. This is in tune with the original philosophy of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and it calls for a dramatic overhaul of existing agricultural policies in many developed countries. The main economic issues that arise with tariffication stem from the non-equivalence of tariffs and NTBs in a number of scenarios. This paper analyzes non-equivalence arising from the existence of: imperfect competition in importing countries; price instability in importing and exporting countries; and, inefficient allocation of quantitative restrictions. It is shown that in all these cases the definition of an appropriate 'equivalent tariff to be used in tariffication is not straightforward, and that in general this equivalent tariff cannot be computed on the basis of only observed price differences between countries. Tariff-rate quotas, which are meant to be the main tool of implementation of tariffication according to the existing proposal, are analyzed in some detail. Concerning the relationship between tariffication and the other elements of the trade liberalization package, it is shown that tariffication would limit the scope of export subsidy policies. It is also shown that the existence of production and export subsidies makes observed price gaps between countries of questionable value in setting equivalent tariff levels. Finally, it is argued that the main focus of tariffication should be the conversion of NTBs to acceptable long-run (bound) tariffs rates, and considerable flexibility in this conversion process could be exercised in the transition period.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Relative Efficiency of Policy Instruments to Reduce Nitrate Water Pollution in the U.S. Southern High Plains

This paper develops a modeling framework for evaluating alternative water quality protection policies. The framework integrates the EPIC-PST crop growth/chemical transport model and a mathematical programming model. The framework is applied to the evaluation of four water quality policies in the southern high plains of the United States:
• restrictions on per-acre nitrogen use,
• taxes on nitrogen use,
• taxes on irrigation water use, and
• incentives to convert conventional irrigation systems to modem irrigation technology. The results indicate that producers would make a variety of adjustments in responding to these policies. Important responses might include reductions in nitrogen and water use, crop substitution, removal of land from crop production and conversion from irrigated to dryland production. These four policies are evaluated based on changes in farm income and social welfare. The irrigation system conversion incentive clearly outperforms other policies from both society's and producers points of view. Producers would prefer nitrogen use restrictions to nitrogen or water use taxes because farm income would be reduced less under the restrictions than under the taxes. Nitrogen use taxes, however, are more desirable than nitrogen use restrictions from society's point of view.     

全产业链视角下农业绿色生态补贴环节与策略

[目的]2016年中央深改组提出《建立以绿色生态为导向的农业补贴制度改革方案》，由此如何建立绿色生态导向的农业补贴成为学界热议焦点，本文试图从农业全产业链视角建立精准的农业绿色生态补贴策略。[方法]以农业全产业链为视角，从农业生产环节、加工环节、流通环节和品牌建设环节入手，讨论农业绿色生态补贴环节与推进策略。[结果]研究发现，农业绿色生态补贴需以资源环境可持续利用为结果导向，以绿色高质量产品为目标导向，将补贴方式与金额与农业产业绿色化“挂钩”，明确补贴关键环节与责任主体，采取以奖代补、多元参与等方式，形成激励与管控相结合的补贴机制，提升补贴的精准性和指向性。[结论]基于以上思路，不同环节绿色生态补贴策略为：（1）生产环节补贴以化学投入品减量、农业废弃物资源化利用和绿色技术采纳生产者为主，根据绿色生产评估结果获得相应补贴；（2）加工环节补贴按照加工产品等级补贴、对废弃物资源化利用进行补贴等方面入手，提高加工环节绿色生态农业补贴的精准性和科学性；（3）流通环节对农产品流通存储基础设施建设等进行补贴；（4）品牌建设环节通过政府和市场两方面，利用补贴政策促进优质优价市场形成，实现农产品高质量发...