Conceptualizing Macro and Intercommodity Linkages in Egyptian Food and Agricultural Policy: Dealing with Interdependencies and Trade-Offs in ADS and Related Research

摘要

Food and agricultural policy in Egypt is most frequently conducted on a commodity-by-commodity basis, creating a complex array of interdependencies resulting in intercommodity and macro linkages and tradeoffs. The recurrent theme of research on Egyptian food and agricultural policy is to analyze resource distortions resulting from these policies and conclude that Egypt would be better off under a free (or at least a freer) market policy. Such a major change, however, is unlikely. The study uses a partial equilibrium analysis to comprehend the linkages among the cotton, wheat, and meat programs and their respective macro effects by focusing on domestic budget and foreign exchange tradeoffs.