Political Reforms and Public Policy: Evidence from Agricultural and Food Policies

50 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Alessandro Olper

Alessandro Olper

Università degli Studi di Milano; KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS)

Jan Falkowski

University of Warsaw

Johan F. M. Swinnen

KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS); European Commission, DG II

Date Written: January 1, 2013

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of political regime transitions on public policy using a new data set on global agricultural and food policies over a 50-year period (including data from 74 developing and developed countries over the 1955?2005 period). The authors find evidence that democratization leads to a reduction of agricultural taxation, an increase in agricultural subsidization, or both. The empirical findings are consistent with the predictions of the median voter model because political transitions occurred primarily in countries with a majority of farmers. The results are robust to different specifications, estimation approaches, and variable definitions.

Keywords: Parliamentary Government, Labor Policies, Emerging Markets, Political Economy, Population Policies

Suggested Citation

Olper, Alessandro and Falkowski, Jan and Swinnen, Johan F.M., Political Reforms and Public Policy: Evidence from Agricultural and Food Policies (January 1, 2013). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6336, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2206184

Alessandro Olper (Contact Author)

Università degli Studi di Milano ( email )

Via Celoria, 2
Milano, 20133
Italy
+390250316481 (Phone)
+390250316486 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://users.unimi.it/olper/

KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS) ( email )

Waaistraat 6 - box 3511
Leuven, 3000
Belgium

Jan Falkowski

University of Warsaw ( email )

Szturmowa 1/3 Warsaw
Poland

Johan F.M. Swinnen

KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS) ( email )

Waaistraat 6
Leuven, B-3000
Belgium

European Commission, DG II ( email )

Wetstrath 200
Office 15172
1049 Brussels
Belgium
+32-2-2960442 (Phone)
Not available (Fax)

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