IN PRAISE OF MIDDLEMEN: THE REGULATION OF MARKET INTERMEDIARIES IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES

摘要

Agriculture was civilization's first great achievement, and agricultural development remains a measure of economic progress around the world. Even in the United States, which is thought of as one of the most industrialized economies in the world, agriculture is one of our most important export industries-more important than steel, aircraft, or even Hollywood movies. It is little wonder, then, that the first concern of so many developing nations is their agricultural market. So far in this conference you've heard discussions of some of the institutions necessary to make agricultural commodity markets work, specifically, institutions designed to improve the transparency of markets, commodity certification, and supply chain coordination. I've been asked to comment on another set of important market institutions: those institutions designed to protect property rights and enforce contractual arrangements.