Cover -- Title Page -- Contents -- Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- Contributors -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- PART 1 Introduction -- 1 Introduction and Summary -- Introduction -- Growth and Structural Changes during Transition -- Methodology for Measuring Nominal and Relative Rates of Assistance -- Distortions in Incentives under the Communist Regime -- Changes in Distortions in Incentives during Transition -- Trade Liberalization -- Variations in Distortion Levels among Countries and across Commodities -- Changes in Agricultural Policy Instruments -- Trade Costs -- Regional Policy -- Infrastructure -- Corruption -- Assistance to Agriculture Relative to Other Tradable Sectors -- Changes in Exchange Rates -- The Inefficiency of Transfers -- Forces behind Transitional Policy Choices -- Causes of Rent Extraction -- Causes of Increases in Support during Transition -- Crises, Political Change, and Reforms -- The Impact of International Agreements -- The Influence of International Institutions -- Human Capital Constraints -- Prospects for Reducing Distortions: Implications for Agricultural Competitiveness and Trade -- Notes -- References -- PART 2 Eastern Europe -- 2 New EU Member Countries -- Introduction -- Historical Perspective on Agriculture and Policy Distortions -- The Communist Period -- The Transition Period, 1989 to 2000 -- Phase One: Liberalization -- Phase Two: Fire-Brigade Policy Making -- Phase Three: Policy Consolidation -- The Pre-EU Accession Period, 2000 to 2004 -- Accession to the EU in 2004 -- Changes in Trade Policy and Trade Agreements during the Transition -- Effects of Trade Liberalization -- New Trade Agreements -- Measuring Assistance to Agriculture -- Methodology and Approach -- Indicators of Assistance and Taxation -- Assistance to Agricultural Production -- Taxation of Consumers.

Agricultural Policy Instruments and the Composition of Assistance -- Political Economy -- Structural Causes of Agricultural Policy Distortions -- Absolute Income (the Development Pattern) -- Relative Income and Comparative Advantage -- The Antitrade Pattern -- The Role of International Agreements -- WTO -- Regional Agreements: CEFTA and the Baltic Free Trade Area -- EU Enlargement and Policy Alignment -- The Budget and Human Capital Constraints -- Lessons and Prospects for Reforms and Reducing Distortions -- Notes -- References -- 3 Turkey -- Introduction -- Overview of the Turkish Economy and Agricultural Sector -- Macroeconomic Developments -- Turkey's Agricultural Sector -- Agricultural Policies -- The Institutional Setting -- Agricultural Trade Policy -- Domestic Agricultural Policies -- Agricultural Policy Reform, 2000 to 2005 -- Estimates of Distortions since 1961 -- Import Protection and Support for Agricultural and Other Products -- NRAs for Agricultural Commodities -- NRAs for Nonagricultural Commodities -- Relative Rate of Assistance and the Trade Bias Index -- Other Studies Measuring Distortions to Agriculture -- The Distortionary Impact of Policies -- Conclusions -- Notes -- References -- PART 3 Commonwealth of Independent States -- 4 The Russian Federation -- Introduction -- Agricultural Policy and Assistance during the Soviet Planned Period -- Assistance during the Transition -- Budget Subsidies -- Input Pricing -- Border Measures and the MPS -- Poor Infrastructure, the Exchange Rate, and Transmission -- Decomposing Changes in Agricultural Producer Prices -- Producer Assistance in the 2000s -- Indirect Assistance for Producers and the RRA -- Assistance to Consumers -- Future Policy Direction and Political Economy Analysis -- Notes -- References -- 5 Ukraine -- Introduction -- History of Growth and Structural Change in the Economy.

History of Agricultural Policy Evolution prior to Independence -- The Extent of Distortions in Incentives in Agriculture since Independence -- Methods and Data -- Results -- The Evolution of Policies and Distortions Affecting Agricultural Incentives -- Phase I: 1991-94 -- Phase II: 1995-98 -- Phase III: 1999-2000 -- Phase IV: 2001-today -- Explanations for the Evolution of Agricultural Policy since Independence -- Implications for Desirable Versus Likely or Politically Feasible Policy Reform Paths -- Notes -- References -- 6 Kazakhstan -- Introduction -- Historical Background -- The Evolution of Policies since 1991 -- Prices and Subsidies -- Privatization and Organizational Structure -- Trade Policies -- Exchange Rate Regimes -- Quantifying the Distortions -- Wheat -- Cotton -- Livestock -- Other Agricultural Products -- Trade Costs -- New Estimates of Rates of Assistance -- The Political Economy of Policy Choices -- Future Policy Reform Paths -- Notes -- References -- 7 The Kyrgyz Republic -- Introduction -- Historical Background -- Transition Strategy and Macroeconomic Developments -- Agricultural Development -- The Evolution of Policies since 1991 -- Prices and Subsidies -- Privatization and Organizational Structure -- Trade Policies -- Quantifying the Distortions in Incentives -- Wheat -- Cotton -- Overall Assessment -- The Political Economy of the Policy Choices -- Future Policy Reform Paths -- Conclusions -- Notes -- References -- 8 Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -- Introduction -- Patterns of National Reform -- Cotton -- The Market-Based Cotton Sectors and Tajikistan -- The Regulated Cotton Sectors of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- Grains, Especially Wheat -- Livestock -- Transfers from Agriculture in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- Price Distortions -- Conclusions -- Notes -- References.

Appendix: Methodology for Measuring Distortions to Agricultural Incentives -- What, According to Theory, Should Be Measured -- Direct Agricultural Distortions -- Price-Distorting Trade Measures at the National Border -- Domestic Producer and Consumer Price-Distorting Measures -- What if the Exchange Rate System Is Also Distorting Prices? -- What About Real Exchange Rate Changes? -- What if Trade Costs Are Too High for a Product to Be Traded Internationally? -- What if Farm Production also Involves Primary Factors, but Intermediate Inputs? -- What About Postfarmgate Costs? -- Nondistortionary Price Wedges -- Domestic Trading Costs -- Processor-Wholesaler Costs -- International Trading Costs -- Product Quality and Variety Differences -- Net Effect of Nondistortionary Influences -- The Impact of Distortions in Food Processing on Agricultural NRAs -- The Mean and Standard Deviation of Agricultural NRAs -- Trade Bias in Agricultural Assistance -- Indirect Agricultural Assistance and Taxation through Nonagricultural Distortions -- Assistance to Agricultural Production Relative to Nonagricultural Production -- The Ways the Theory Is Put into Practice in This Study -- Time Period Coverage of the Study -- Farm Product Coverage of the Study -- Farm Input Coverage -- Trade Costs -- Classifying Farm Products as Import-Competing, Exportable, or Nontradable -- The Transmission of Assistance and Taxation along the Agricultural Value Chain -- The CTEs of Farm Products -- Key Required Information -- Exchange Rate Distortions -- Guesstimates of NRAs for Agricultural Products not Covered -- Non-Product-Specific Assistance to Agriculture -- Assistance to Nonagricultural Sectors -- The Use of Percentages in the Chapters -- Notes -- References -- Index -- Back Cover.