Measuring agricultural policy bias: general equilibrium analysis of fifteen developing countries.

摘要

This article examines 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 1980 s was largely eliminated during the 1990 s. Results also demonstrate that general equilibrium effects and country-specific characteristics are crucial for determining the sign and magnitude of agricultural bias. The comprehensive protection measure is therefore uniquely suited to capture the full impact of trade policies on relative agricultural price incentives.