Agriculture and the Transition to the Market in Asia

Success and Failure of Reform: Insights from the Transition of Agriculture

“…In setting the prices of agricultural goods, inputs, and services, the ratio of input to output prices faced by producers differed greatly among the countries. For example, in China and Vietnam before reform, authorities used administrative prices to impose a heavy tax on agriculture by requiring farmers to deliver their output at artificially low prices (Lardy 1983;Sicular 1988a;Green and Vokes 1998). In contrast, leaders in most of the CEE and the CIS nations supported agriculture with heavy subsidies, typically setting artificially low prices for inputs and relatively high prices for output (Edward Cook, William Liefert, and Robert Koopman 1991;Andrzej Kwiecinski and Natacha Pescatore 2000;Liefert et al 1996;USDA 1994;Thomas Tomich, Peter Kilby, and Bruce Johnston 1995).…”

“…A study centering on agriculture also is inherently interesting, especially to those studying economic development. For example, in most East and Central Asian nations, agriculture dominated the economy during transition, and the changes in the sector have had an important impact on overall economic performance (Perkins 1994;Anita Chan, Ben Kerkvliet, and Jonathon Unger 1999;David Green and Richard Vokes 1998). When more than 50 percent of a nation's labor force is employed in agriculture, and when the major share of consumer income is spent on food, successful agricultural reform can have a major impact on poverty reduction and the welfare of the population.…”

Transition and Agriculture

“…In China and Vietnam, authorities heavily taxed agriculture (Lardy, 1983;Sicular, 1988;Huang, Lin, and Rozelle, 1998;Green and Vokes, 1998). In contrast, leaders in most of the CEECs and the FSU nations supported agriculture with heavy subsidies (Green and Vokes, 1998;USDA, 1994;Tomich et al 1995).…”

Flourishing retail in the post-soviet sphere? Potentials and constraints of small-scale retail activities in rural Kyrgyzstan

“…Any surplus was sold at kolkhoz markets (Whitman, 1956;Stadelbauer, 1987Stadelbauer, , 1991. This state-tolerated subsistence sector also comprised animal husbandry which was especially in Kyrgyzstan very important for people's economic survival (Giese, 1973(Giese, , 1983Schmeljow, 1990;Green and Vokes, 1997). In the leskhoze villages of southern Kyrgyzstan, households were permitted to own one cow, one horse and up to five sheep.…”