1. LECTURE 1
• Why Agricultural Economics?
• Principles of welfare
economics
• Trade part I
2. Is Agricultural Economics interesting?
Agriculture is a small share of GDP in developed countries,
but food is one of the largest businesses in the world, it is not
only farm production, but also the food industry.
EU size: €1 tn turnover, 10% of manufacturing GVA
Largest manufacturing sector in EU
It relates to all aspects of live:
Live and death – food security
Food Safety and Health (obesity, nutrition, etc.)
Controversial (Trade, subsidies, biotechnology, biofuels…)
Very diverse
…. and one gets to be invited to good food….
3. Why special economics?
One of the most distorted, subsidised,
taxed and politically affected markets…
with high environmental externalities
4. What we will look at….
Analysis of agricultural policies in the EU and other
OECD countries and their impacts
WTO – measures of support
Tariff and non tariff barriers
EU rural development policy
Agriculture in developing countries – what is the story?
Climate change, food security and politics
What is green?
5. First hard theory
Welfare economics – the basis
We will look at:
Partial equilibrium models and look at consumer
and producer surplus
Ricardian comparative advantage
Partial equilibrium analysis with trade
Flaws and reasons for government interventions:
good and bad reasons
6. Government intervention: what
for?
Infant industry argument
Protect sectors of the economy
Reduce income inequalities
Food security
Act against ‘dumping’ (or generate dumping)
Food safety (phytosanitary– SPS)
Environmental and public goods
17. Price
Quantity
Pw
Demand
Supply
Pt
Pt: Price with tariff
qs qs’ qd qd’
Consumer surplus lost
Producer surplus win
Tariff revenue
∆Welfare=Tariff revenue + producer surplus - consumer surplus loss,
Tariff only covers part of the losses = transfer of consumer to producer
Import
fall
18. Price
Quantity
Pw
qs
Demand
Supply
Pt
Pt: Price with tariff
qs’ qd qd’
∆Welfare=Tariff revenue + producer surplus - consumer surplus loss,
Tariff only covers part of the losses = transfer of consumer to producer
Welfare losses
19. Taxing exports increases welfare?
No
Price
Quantity
Pw
Demand
Supply
Pi
qsqs’qd qd’
Taxing exports is like making producer prices lower,
transfer from producer to gov – no welfare gain
Tax revenue of export
20. Taxing exports increases welfare?
No
Price
Quantity
Pw
Demand
Supply
Pi
qsqs’qd qd’
Taxing exports is like making producer prices lower,
transfer from producer to gov – no welfare gain
Producer surplus falls
Consumer surplus up
Tax revenue is not a
loss, but is only a
transfer from producer
to gov.
22. Attention: Tariffs may be welfare
enhancing
Partial equilibrium only looks at the welfare impact on
the product, but tax revenue may be invested in a
product creating more welfare. It may reduce negative
impacts on other sectors.
There are optimum tariff too for large exporters that
affect world market.
23. The big CAP historical controversy
with the world at large
The CAP was first introduced in 1968. Problem small
farms, inefficient, Europe was net importer.
Instead of farm restructuring, main option was price
support.
A) Intervention price Pi, minimum price to farmers
B) Variable levy Plv: Tariff which adapts to intervention
price, entry price fixed
C) When intervention price higher than world price, EU
subsidised the exports… which was 90% of the time the
case
24. From underperforming to bonanza
Price
Quantity
Pw
qd
Demand
Supply
qs
1968
Many small farms: Low farm productivity, low incomes
25. Why the CAP
was/still is controversial
Price
Quantity
Pw
qd
Demand
Supply
qs
1970s EU
Becomes surplus producer
And dumps it. Exp. subsidies
Many small farms: Low farm incomes
Pi
Plv
qs’qd’
production
exp
27. But supplier faces
TOTALLY ELASTIC DEMAND
Price
Quantity
Pw
qs’’
Demand
Supply
qs
Many small farms: Low farm incomes
Pi
Pvl
qs’qd’
CAP expenditure
FOREx revenue
Supply’
Farm
intensificati
on
Let to 1980s EU
budget crisis and
UK rebate… and
90s reform
30. Why was world upset
Price
Quantity
Pw
Deu
Seu
Price
Pw
Pi
Cut in imports + subsidised exports
Pw2
Demand from Europe falls
Sw
Dw
World supply curve shifts, more European production not
responsive to Pw. Pw falls due to less Deu and more Seu
Other countries cut production at lower prices, the EC ‘dumps’ the difference
Sw’
Pth
Europe supplies subsidised exports
31. CAP has reformed and
eliminated price support
But subsidies maintain production going
World prices have however increased, the situation has
changed
However, the best move is to support production
increases in other countries, not in expensive EU where
we are at the production possibility frontier, each
additional production requires costly inputs.