Importing High Food Prices by Exporting : Rice Prices in Lao PDR
This paper shows how a developing country, Lao PDR, imports high glutinous rice prices by exporting its staple food to neighboring countries, Vietnam and Thailand. Lao PDR has extensive export controls on rice, generating a sizable difference betwe...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank Group, Washington, DC
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20419857/importing-high-food-prices-exporting-rice-prices-lao-pdr http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20646 |
| Summary: | This paper shows how a developing
country, Lao PDR, imports high glutinous rice prices by
exporting its staple food to neighboring countries, Vietnam
and Thailand. Lao PDR has extensive export controls on rice,
generating a sizable difference between domestic and
international prices. Controls are relaxed after good
harvests, leading to a surge in exports early in the season
and rapidly rising prices later in the year. There is thus a
strong case for removal of trade restrictions since they
give rise to price spikes, keep the long-term price of
glutinous rice low, and thereby hinder increases in income
from agriculture. Although this is a case study of Lao PDR,
the findings may equally apply to other developing countries
that export their staple food. |
|---|