1887

OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers

NB. No. 1 to No. 58 were released under the previous series title OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Working Papers.

English

Impact of agricultural export restrictions on prices in importing countries

During the commodity price spikes in 2007-08 and 2010-11, several countries implemented temporary export restrictions on staple foods in an attempt to protect domestic consumers from rising and volatile prices. The impacts of these policies, however, are not limited to the countries that are instituting them; they can also influence consumer prices in their trading partners. This study analyses whether the impact of export restrictions was different in countries that were traditionally more dependent on imports from the restricting country than in countries that imported a smaller share. Four export bans are considered: the maize ban in Argentina, the rice bans in India and Viet Nam, and the wheat ban in the Russian Federation. Using an error correction model in a panel framework, the study identifies the long-run impacts of export bans by showing whether the introduction of these bans caused a structural break in the long-term relationship between prices in international markets and consumer prices in domestic markets. The analysis demonstrates that the effects of an export ban were more pronounced in the group of countries that traditionally imported a higher share from the restricting countries than in countries with a lower import dependency. The results show that, even though export bans are temporary in nature, they can have long lasting effects.

English

Keywords: export bans, price transmission, error correction model, Food prices
JEL: F13: International Economics / Trade / Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations; C23: Mathematical and Quantitative Methods / Single Equation Models; Single Variables / Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Panel Data Models; Spatio-temporal Models; Q18: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Agriculture / Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Q11: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Agriculture / Agriculture: Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices; Q17: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Agriculture / Agriculture in International Trade
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