2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/406280The agricultural and food sector is an ideal case for investigating the political economy of public policies. Many of the policy developments in this sector since the 1950s have been sudden and transformational, while others have been gradual but persistent. This paper reviews and synthesizes the literature on trends and fluctuations in market distortions and the political-economy explanations that have been advanced. Based on a rich global data set covering a half-century of evidence on commodities, countries, and policy instruments, the paper identifies hypotheses that have been explored in the literature on the extent of market distortions and the conditions under which reform may be feasible.application/pdftext/plainCC BY 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igoWorld BankADVANCED ECONOMIESAGREEMENT ON AGRICULTUREAGRIBUSINESSAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIESAGRICULTURAL EXPORTAGRICULTURAL EXPORT SUBSIDIESAGRICULTURAL EXPORTSAGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIESAGRICULTURAL INTERESTSAGRICULTURAL MARKETSAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTAGRICULTURAL POLICIESAGRICULTURAL POLICYAGRICULTURAL PRICEAGRICULTURAL PRICE SUPPORTSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSAGRICULTURAL PROTECTIONAGRICULTURAL RESEARCHAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTURAL SECTORSAGRICULTURAL TRADEAGRICULTUREALLOCATIONBARRIERS TO ENTRYBORDER MEASURESCLIMATECOMMODITIESCOMMODITYCOMMODITY PRICECOMMODITY PRICESCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGESCONSUMERSCONSUMPTION PATTERNSCOST REDUCTIONCOTTONCROPSCURRENCYDAIRYDECISION MAKINGDEMOCRACIESDEMOCRACYDEMOCRATIC REFORMSDEREGULATIONDEVALUATIONDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING ECONOMIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYDIRECT PAYMENTSDISTRIBUTION OF INCOMEDISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTSDOMESTIC CONSUMERSDOMESTIC MARKETSDOMESTIC PRICEDOMESTIC PRICESDOMESTIC PRODUCERDOMESTIC PRODUCERSECONOMETRIC ANALYSESECONOMETRIC MODELSECONOMIC ANALYSISECONOMIC DECISION MAKINGECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC EQUILIBRIUMECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC REFORMSECONOMIC STRUCTUREECONOMIC THEORYECONOMIC THOUGHTECONOMIC WELFAREECONOMICS LITERATUREEXCHANGE RATESEXPORTEXPORT SUBSIDIESEXPORTSEXTERNALITIESFARMFARM EMPLOYMENTFARM INCOMEFARM INCOMESFARM PRODUCTSFARMERSFARMSFEEDFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL SUPPORTFISCAL POLICYFLEXIBLE EXCHANGE RATESFOOD PRICESFOOD PRODUCTSFOOD SECURITYFOREIGN EXCHANGEFREE MARKETSFREE TRADEFUTURE GROWTHGDPGLOBAL OUTPUTGLOBAL POVERTYGLOBALIZATIONGOVERNMENT EXPENDITURESGOVERNMENT POLICIESGRAINGROSS VALUEHOUSEHOLDSIMPORT BARRIERSIMPORT TARIFFSIMPORTSINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME GROUPINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME TAXESINCOMESINDUSTRIAL ECONOMYINDUSTRIALIZATIONINFORMATION TECHNOLOGIESINSURANCEINTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSINTERNATIONAL TRADELAND USELIBERALIZATIONLIBERALIZATIONSLIVESTOCKLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMACRO-ECONOMIC POLICYMACROECONOMIC POLICYMARGINAL UTILITYMARKET DEVELOPMENTSMARKET DISTORTIONSMARKET ENTRYMARKET OUTCOMESMARKET PRICESMARKET STRUCTURESMARKETING QUOTASMIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIESMILKMOBILIZATIONMONETARY FUNDMONETARY POLICYMULTILATERAL TRADEORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURESOUTPUTSPARTICULAR COUNTRYPER CAPITA INCOMEPOLICY ANALYSISPOLICY DEVELOPMENTSPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY REGIMEPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL POWERPOLITICAL REGIMEPOLITICAL REGIMESPOLITICAL SYSTEMSPORKPOULTRYPRICE DISTORTIONPRICE DISTORTIONSPRICE FLUCTUATIONSPRICE SUBSIDIESPRICE SUPPORTPRIVATIZATIONPRODUCTION INCREASESPROGRESSPROTECTIONISMPUBLIC POLICIESPUBLIC POLICYQUANTITATIVE IMPORT RESTRICTIONSQUANTITATIVE INDICATORSQUANTITATIVE MEASURESQUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONSRAPID GROWTHRATE OF RETURNREAL INCOMEREGRESSION ANALYSISRELATIVE PRICERELATIVE PRICESRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESOURCE ECONOMICSRESPECTRICHER COUNTRIESROUND OF MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONSRURAL AREASRURAL DEVELOPMENTRURAL INFRASTRUCTURESCENARIOSSMALL COUNTRIESSUBSTITUTIONSUGARSUNK COSTSTARGET PRICESTARIFF BARRIERSTAXTAXATIONTOTAL COSTSTRADE BARRIERSTRADE DISTORTINGTRADE NEGOTIATIONSTRADE POLICIESTRADE POLICYTRADE TAXTRADE TAXESTRADING PARTNERSTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSITION COUNTRIESTRANSITION ECONOMIESTRANSPARENCYTYPES OF INSTRUMENTSUNEMPLOYMENTURUGUAY ROUNDVOLATILITYVOLUMEVOTERSWEALTHWORLD ECONOMYWORLD TRADEWORLD TRADE ORGANIZATIONWTO