This paper develops a theoretical model of livestock and meat exports from Upper Volta. The model is depicted graphically, showing the existence of jointly-determined unique equilibrium levels of live-animal and meat exports given costs and relevant demands for meat and offals. The model shows how conditions leading to a greater proportion of meat to live-animal exports are self-braking because of the interrelationship of domestic and export markets and explains the observation of declining meat exports in periods of rising prices. The cause of this phenomenon is shown to be the price of non-tradable by-products of cattle slaughtered in Upper Volta for export as meat. The paper examines the impact of a series of exogenous effects on meat exports. The most important policy conclusion is that exogenous changes favoring either mode of export tend to be restricted in their effect by the self-braking nature of the system. The greatest likelihood for promoting increased meat exports from Upper Volta appears to be increasing the capacity to process and export offals and decreasing the transportation costs of meat relative to live animals.Center for Research on Economic Development, University of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100877/1/ECON329.pd
