Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies

Johan Swinnen is Professor of Economics and Director of the LICOS-Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance at the University of Leuven, Belgium.  He is also Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, a part-time Visiting Professor at the Centre for Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University, USA, and Mercator Fellow at the University of Gottingen, Germany. Swinnen has previously served as President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, Lead Economist at the World Bank, and Economic Advisor at the European Commission.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Political Coalitions in Agricultural and Food Policies.- 3. Factors Influencing Policy Choices.- 4. The Development Paradox.- 5. Anti-trade Bias and the Political Economy of Instrument Choice.- 6. Development Paradox and Anti-trade Bias Revisited?.- 7. Policy Reforms in History: Europe, the United States, and China.- 8. Price Volatility.- 9. Crises and Development Policies.- 10. Food Standards.- 11. Public Investment in Agricultural Research.- 12. Land and Institutional Reforms.- 13. Policy Interactions.