DISPATCHES FROM THE TOMATO WARS: SPILLOVER EFFECTS OF TRADE BARRIERS

International Relations/Trade,

Antidumping and Market Power in the Agriculture Sector, with a Special Case Study of the Fresh Tomato Industry

In this article we highlight the anticompetitive nature of antidumping (AD) legislation. Antidumping legislation was set up to protect domestic firms from predatory pricing by foreign firms. We argue that protecting highly concentrated industries drastically reduces competition at home. In cases where the industry consists only of one or two firms, import restriction may breed monopolies at the expense of domestic consumers. This article looks at cases filed by the agriculture sector, and at the market concentration of industries in this sector, to illustrate the above possibility. We study the case of fresh tomatoes in detail to further demonstrate the anticompetitive nature of AD legislation. We show the effect of AD legislation on imports, as well as the change in the Lerner index in the fresh tomato industry.agriculture, antidumping legislation, competition, fresh tomato industry, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

Pesticide Regulation Under NAFTA: Harmonization in Process?

Different standards in pesticides and pest protection have often been used as trade barriers, whether real or manufactured. While harmonization is often touted as a means to limit the ability of domestic (protectionist) interests to use standards as a barrier to trade, the process of harmonization itself is subject to rent-seeking. In this paper, we explore the harmonization of standards that affect pesticide use in NAFTA and ask whether the process is benefiting any groups more than others. There is evidence that patented pesticide producers have greater access to the harmonization process and may be using harmonization to raise costs to their rivals while preserving their ability to price discriminate.International Relations/Trade,

Product Quality in the Canadian Dairy Industry

Supply management has been shown to increase the price of milk. Technological change has induced (and allowed) processors to substitute alternative inputs, many of which can be imported tariff-free, for the traditional ingredients to lower costs and maximize profit. Meanwhile, there has been a great deal of consolidation in the dairy processing industry. We analyse the effect of these trends on cheese quality by measuring the increase in casein imports. Results suggest that supply management is negatively affecting cheese quality, by increasing casein imports due to the higher milk price. Furthermore, we were able to calculate that approximately 9.8% of specialty cheese is produced used casein. A 22% ad valorem tariff is needed to drive casein imports down to zero.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

Scientific Uncertainty and Climate Change Policy

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Socioeconomic Distance as a Determinant of Female Autonomy and Child Welfare

We quantify the impact of network-based learning and influence on measures of female power and child nutrition in rural India. Empowering women to have greater say in child rearing may generate greater and more lasting benefits to children than nutrition supplementation. While researchers have used proxy reports or correlates like caste to trace networks, we map networks by surveying friends of respondents. We use participation in a women's education program to identify increases in female power, as well as stronger and more diverse networks. We study the ways in which networks affect individuals, namely learning and influence. Finally, we characterize the benefits of using survey data rather than proxies to identify networks. Our results linking networks to child nutrition should also inform child health policy.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty,

PRODUCT QUALITY IN THE CANADIAN DAIRY INDUSTRY

Supply management has been shown to increase the price of milk. Technological change has induced (and allowed) processors to substitute alternative inputs, many of which can be imported tariff-free, for the traditional ingredients to lower costs and maximize profit. Meanwhile, there has been a great deal of consolidation in the dairy processing industry. We analyse the effect of these trends on cheese quality by measuring the increase in casein imports. Results suggest that supply management is negatively affecting cheese quality, by increasing casein imports due to the higher milk price. Furthermore, we were able to calculate that approximately 9.8% of specialty cheese is produced used casein. A 22% ad valorem tariff is needed to drive casein imports down to zero.Industrial Organization,

AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy,

AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT QUALITY WITHIN THE CANADIAN CHEESE INDUSTRY

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Conversion from Staple to Cash Crop Production in Mexico After NAFTA: Effects of PROCAMPO and Credit Constraints

In this paper, we ask whether PROCAMPO helped Mexican agricultural producers benefit from NAFTA. Specifically, we explore the effect of these decoupled income payments (PROCAMPO) on producers’ ability to switch to cash crop production, and whether these payments help alleviate credit constraints for poorer producers. Given that WTO negotiations are currently stalled in part because of the trade concerns of developing nations, exploring the constraints that small producers face and whether decoupled subsidies can assist those producers in benefiting from new markets is important. Unlike previous studies, who concentrated on specific regions and ejidal lands, we use nationwide county-level data, which allows for us to see the regional distribution of change across Mexico. We use these data to estimate the change in staple crop production as a function of county-level characteristics. We find some evidence to support the hypothesis that an increase in PROCAMPO payments leads to a decrease in the area planted in staples. Second, the implementation of NAFTA is associated with greater cash crop production and we can see that the creation of new markets is, in general, leading to a reduction in land planted in staples. Third, we find that the effect of PROCAMPO is even larger for ejido producers, implying that their benefits are not constrained to larger producers. Last, we find evidence that areas closest to the United States border have seen a greater movement to cash crop production after NAFTA.NAFTA, PROCAMPO, Credit Constraint, Mexico, staple production, crop choice, International Relations/Trade,