The extent of the market and stages of agricultural specialization

M. Shahe Emran and Forhad Shilpi

No 4534, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper provides empirical evidence of nonlinearity in the relationship between crop specialization in a village economy and the extent of the market (size of the urban market) relevant for the village. The results suggest that the portfolio of crops in a village economy becomes more diversified initially as the extent of the market increases. However, after the market size reaches a threshold, the production structure becomes specialized again. This evidence on the stages of agricultural diversification is consistent with the stages of diversification identified in the recent literature for the economy as a whole and also for the manufacturing sector. The evidence highlights the importance of improving farmers'access to markets through investment in transport infrastructure and removal of barriers to trading.

Keywords: Transport Economics Policy&Planning; Markets and Market Access; Political Economy; Debt Markets; Crops&Crop Management Systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-02-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-dev
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The extent of the market and stages of agricultural specialization (2012)
Journal Article: The extent of the market and stages of agricultural specialization (2012)
Working Paper: The Extent of the Market and Stages of Agricultural Specialization (2008)
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