Agricultural Protection in Rich Countries: How Did We Get Here?

39 Pages Posted: 3 Jul 2007

See all articles by Kimberly Ann Elliott

Kimberly Ann Elliott

Institute for International Economics; Center for Global Development

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: September 2004

Abstract

After a half century of multilateral bargaining to reduce trade barriers, agriculture stands out for the degree of protection and government support that it still enjoys in most rich countries. This makes agricultural protection a natural focus of the current Doha Round of trade negotiations: in addition to offering the juiciest targets for liberalization, this round is supposed to address the needs of developing countries, where the vast majority of the world's farmers, most of them poor, reside. But is there any reason to think trade negotiations are more likely now than in the past to encourage substantial reform of rich countries' farm policies? This paper looks at the evolution of and current approaches to agricultural policies in rich countries to see if there are lessons from the past that might improve chances for reform this time around.

Suggested Citation

Elliott, Kimberly Ann and Elliott, Kimberly Ann, Agricultural Protection in Rich Countries: How Did We Get Here? (September 2004). Center for Global Development Working Paper No. 47, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=997418 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.997418

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