Realizing the Gains from Trade: Export Crops, Marketing Costs, and Poverty

43 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Jorge F. Balat

Jorge F. Balat

University of Texas at Austin - Department of Economics

Irene Brambilla

Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Guido G. Porto

World Bank; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 1, 2008

Abstract

This paper explores the role of export costs in the process of poverty reduction in rural Africa. The authors claim that the marketing costs that emerge when the commercialization of export crops requires intermediaries can lead to lower participation into export cropping and, thus, to higher poverty. They test the model using data from the Uganda National Household Survey. The findings show that: i) farmers living in villages with fewer outlets for sales of agricultural exports are likely to be poorer than farmers residing in market endowed villages; ii) market availability leads to increased household participation in export cropping (coffee, tea, cotton, fruits); and iii) households engaged in export cropping are less likely to be poor than subsistence-based households. The authors conclude that the availability of markets for agricultural export crops helps realize the gains from trade. This result uncovers the role of complementary factors that provide market access and reduce marketing costs as key building blocks in the link between the gains from export opportunities and the poor.

Keywords: Transport Economics Policy & Planning, Markets and Market Access, Rural Poverty Reduction, Crops & Crop Management Systems

Suggested Citation

Balat, Jorge F. and Brambilla, Irene and Porto, Guido, Realizing the Gains from Trade: Export Crops, Marketing Costs, and Poverty (January 1, 2008). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4488, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1088227

Jorge F. Balat

University of Texas at Austin - Department of Economics ( email )

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Irene Brambilla

Universidad Nacional de La Plata ( email )

La Plata, Buenos Aires 1900
Argentina

Guido Porto (Contact Author)

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/gporto

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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