World cotton prices have been characterized by a persistent decline since 1995. For developing countries producing cotton, this decline is due to the subsidies granted by the United States and the European Union to their cotton producers. As consequence, developing countries expect large commercial gains and substantial economic development from the removal of these support policies. Thus, this thesis aims to analyze the effect of the United States subsidies on the cotton market and their consequences on the Malian economy, one of the main cotton producers in Africa. First by means of two econometric models, we highlight the significant negative impact of the subsidies on world cotton price. Secondly, through a dynamic partial equilibrium model based on a detailed analysis of the American and European supports and which takes into account stocks, risk on the supply side and competition from synthetic fibers, we show that the removal of all subsidies leads to a positive impact on the world price between 4 and 17 %. While limited both in terms of growth and income improvement, the consequences of the removal of the subsidies on the Malian economy should be positive. Indeed, all the sectors of the economy but that of cereals should benefit from the domino effects of the cotton sector. So, the Government, the national cotton company and the producers which are the three main actors of the sector should expect an improvement of their situation. However, the main message of the thesis regarding the Malian economy is that the removal of the subsidies would not be the panacea given the difficulties faced by the cotton sector. Other issues such as slow productivity growth and the exchange rate appreciation (the euro / dollar parity) are also important for countries of the Franc Zone area, and particularly for Mali.
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