New Working Paper:
The Good, the Bad, and the Hungry: An Analysis of Food Protectionism in Hungry Agrarian Countries, by Leo Adrianus (University of Buffalo)
This paper seeks to address the paradoxical issue of food protectionism in hungry agrarian countries. By comparing the geography of world food tariffs with that of world hunger, we can see that food tariffs are generally higher in countries plagued by chronic hunger than in their richer neighbors. This apparent contradiction is often justified by developing country governments using the popular rhetoric of food sovereignty and rural development. Consequently, international controversies surrounding world agricultural trade have revolved mainly around those barriers erected by developed countries. This paper argues that the lack of skepticism and opposition to food protectionism in developing countries are founded neither on sound economics nor solid empirical evidence, and thus a careful reassessment by all those involved must be made on this very important matter.
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I suspect that food protectionism is poor countries has two sources. The first is a response to the “corporate welfare” subsidies in the developed nations that undermine what should be a natural comparative advantage in the third world. The second may be a desire by elites to make sure they are not threatened by a growing middle class that would benefit most from cheap imports.
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