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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Economic Growth, Income Distribution and Agricultural Policy in Malawi |
Authors: | Sahn, David E. Van Frausum, Yves |
Year: | 1994 |
Periodical: | Journal of African Economies |
Volume: | 3 |
Issue: | 3 |
Period: | December |
Pages: | 412-446 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Malawi |
Subjects: | wages price policy agricultural products agricultural policy Economics and Trade Politics and Government Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Development and Technology |
External link: | https://jae.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/3/412.full.pdf |
Abstract: | Malawi's weak economic performance during the 1980s occurred in part due to the failure to reform agricultural pricing policies. This paper uses an econometric model to show that the continuation of high levels of taxation on smallholder exports slowed the growth of the economy and hurt poor, land-constrained smallholders with less than 1.5 hectares of land. While a policy of adhering to border prices is therefore commended, the model also shows that raising minimum wages in the absence of productivity gains will erode the benefits of price liberalization. Furthermore, price policy reforms need to be accompanied by broader institutional reforms, particularly those aimed at breaking down the imposed market segmentation between estate producers and smallholders. App., bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. |