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Since the research agenda on agroholdings and mega-farms was elaborated in the 2017 special issue of IFAMA, much has been learned about structure, performance and management of these farming systems. Despite doubts about the sustainability of these farming systems, they have evolved and even flourished under a wide variety of governance and geographical conditions. It remains to be seen if these systems will be successful in the long run, but continued research is warranted to understand their evolution, functional forms and impacts. This special issue includes four papers examining acquisition, growth and restructuring processes under differing conditions in Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine to gain a deeper and broader understanding of these management forms. A second major focus of this special issue is in the socio-political sphere with three papers to document and better understand the corporate social responsibility of such firms in Argentina, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The new knowledge and understanding gained from these papers leads to a reformulation of the research agenda on the development of agroholdings and mega-farms in transition and emerging market economies.

Having high export potential, Ukrainian agrarian sector continues to be in the agricultural commodity market periphery. One of the key problems is low export efficiency determined by raw materials domination in the structure. The study aim was to ascertain a reorientation possibility of export commodity structure in order to reduce the raw materials part and increase the highly marginal goods part. The methodology consisted in studying the character of reciprocal influence comparison of different commodity groups volumes of agricultural produce using Verhulst’s function. As a result, parameters of optimal goods correlation were designed, and a number of highly marginal goods and conceptual basis able to improve export efficiency were established. JEL Codes: C23, F15, Q17.

In 2008–10, Russia and Ukraine together exported an average of 29 million tons of wheat per year, and have become important players in the international wheat market. This research summarizes the short- and long-run wheat price dynamics between Ukraine and Russia, and other major wheat exporters—the United States, European Union (EU), and Canada—from 2004 to 2010. Tests of market price co-integration (Johansen maximum likelihood test and residual-based tests) as well as threshold error correction techniques were performed for this purpose. The results suggest that Russian wheat prices were co-integrated with EU and U.S. wheat prices but not with Canadian wheat prices. Ukrainian wheat prices were found to be co-integrated with French wheat prices only. The estimated long-run wheat price transmission elasticities were estimated to be equal to 1.04 between Russian and French (a representative country of the EU) wheat prices, 1.16 between Russian and U.S. wheat prices, and 1.05 between Ukrainian and French wheat prices. We also found the short-term relationships between the co-integrated series to be statistically significant. Price adjustments in all co-integrated prices were found to be symmetric.

Recent international financial crises (East Asia in 1997, Russia in 1998, Brazil in 1999) and the speed with which they have spread across countries and regions have called into question the very desirability of financial globalization, that is, the opening of balance of payments' capital accounts in both developed and emerging economies since the mid 1980s.1 Calls for a new, global financial architecture have multiplied, and new and old theoretical arguments for and against controlling capital flows (as well as domestic financial markets, especially banks) have been put forward (IMF, Rodrik, Stiglitz). There is little empirical evidence to support the debate over the potential effects of enhanced financial volatility at the sectoral level, and especially on the agricultural economy. Has international financial volatility actually affected real sectoral performance, and if so how? After briefly reviewing literature in this area, this paper introduces the methodology and preliminary results of an on-going research project that addresses that question with reference to agricultural commodity trade. The purpose of the paper is both to generate productive discussion and to motivate similar research in this

This paper examines price relationships in the international wheat market for the years 1981–93 using a cointegration and error correction approach. Price series are found to be first-differenced stationary and cointegrated. Our results provide evidence that the United States, Australia, the European Union and Argentina react to Canada's pricing decisions, whereas Canada does not respond to any other price changes except Australia's. Similarly, the United States also plays a strong role in the pricing of other exporters (except Canada) and its pricing decision is affected by changes in Canadian and Australian prices. The remaining exporters such as the European Union and Argentina respond to the U.S. and Canadian price changes but do not have any influence on other prices. Overall, our results suggest that there is no distinct price leader in the international wheat market. Nous examinons les rapports deprixjouantsur le marche international du ble durant la periode 1981–1993, suivant une demarche de co-integration et de correction des erreurs. Nous avons constate et verifie que les series de prix se revelent stationnaires lorsqu‘exprimees en premiere difference et qu‘elles sont cointegrees. Nos observations demontrent que les Etats-Unis, I'Australie, I'Union europeenne et I'Argentine reagissent aux decisions de tariflcation prises au Canada et que de son cote, le Canada ne reagit a aucun autre changement du regime de tarification sauf a celui de I'Australie. De meme, les Etats-Unis jouent egalement un role important dans la tarification des autres exportateurs (le Canada excepte) et ses decisions de tarification sont sensibles aux changements affectant les prix canadiens et australiens. Le reste des exportateurs, notamment I'Union europeenne et I'Argentine, sont en mesure de reagir aux changements des prix appliques aux Etats- Unis et au Canada, mais Us n‘ont aucune influence sur la tarification des autres exportateurs. Toutes ces observations nous amenent a conclure qu'il n'y a pas vraiment de leader dans l'etablissement des prix du ble sur le marche international.

The study develops a theory of very-short-run forward-looking behavior allowing for forward trading and storage of final good and material input. Production and storage are separable from hedging decisions and depend only upon current forward and cash prices. Comparative statics are derived regarding production, purchases, and sales. The hypotheses advanced are tested with monthly data pertaining to the U.S. soybean-processing industry. Results suggest that in short-run equilibrium futures prices of the soybean complex have had little influence on crushings or production, but they have been important determinants of inventory levels.

Declining prices have followed two recent price spikes in 2007/08 and 2010/11 to 2012/13 that brought an era of higher and more volatile commodity prices that is quite different from the previous years of depressed prices. Declining petroleum prices combined with excellent global harvests brought the lowest market prices in many years. Are current policies tuned to these market conditions? We begin with a review of past policy evolution that took place in the European Union (EU) and United States (US), and then look at recent reforms and prospects for policy changes in the context of likely changes in the global market and policy environment over the next decade. Since agricultural policies generally evolve in response to internal and external pressures in a political economy context, we explore how the outlook of commodity markets may influence the directions of policies and the decision making environment for farmers.

A model of marketing firms in the presence of futures markets is presented and tested with data from the U.S. soybean-processing industry. Results show that production increases if output futures prices rise, material input cash prices fall, or the output cashfutures price relationship becomes more volatile. Sufficient assumptions for these results are expected-utility-maximizing competitive firms with nonincreasing absolute risk aversion and nonstochastic Leontief production functions, unbiased futures prices, and linearly related cash and futures prices. The standard marketing margin is inappropriate for analyzing market structure or risk in the presence of futures markets. price uncertainty, risk, soybean processors. The central paradigm in the analysis of marketing industries is the cash-cash marketing margin (CMM), by which we mean the relationship between cash prices of final good and material input measured at the same point in time.' The classical CMM model is the markup, according to which the spread among cash prices at different levels of the commercialization channel is a combination of a percentage markup and a constant absolute markup. Gardner shows that the markup is inconsistent with competition and advances a CMM model of a competitive marketing industry in which firms respond differently to output demand variations than they do to input supply changes. Some authors have compared the empirical explanatory power of alternative CMM models with conflicting results (Wohlgenant and Mullen; Thompson and Lyon). Brorsen et al. further developed the CMM paradigm to account for risk. They proved that, if a marketing firm is in a competitive and/or contestable market, an increase in output price risk should lead to a higher expected CMM. Their hypotheses could not be rejected when tested with data from the U.S. wheat-milling industry. The CMM ignores the role of futures markets, a weakness because futures are extensively used by marketing firms in many industries (Paul). Omission of futures in the analysis of marketing industries is paradoxical given the important body of theoretical research highlighting the impact of forward and futures markets on competitive firms (Danthine; Holthausen; Feder, Just, and Schmitz; Batlin; Benninga, Eldor, and Zilcha; Paroush and Wolf). If futures prices are relevant for marketing firms in a particular industry, then neglecting futures in the behavioral models of such an industry has potentially significant consequences. For example, the standard practice of employing the CMM to infer the efficiency or competitive nature of the industry (Hall, Schmitz, and Cothern) may be misleading because it does not reflect profit opportunities made available by the futures market. Hedging opportunities imply that risk measures based on CMM variability may also be

Agricultural economists and policy makers in the United States believe that the magnitude of the export demand elasticity is one of the most important parameters used in farm policy decisions. However, past empirical estimates show wide variation in the size of the U.S. export demand elasticity. Reasons for this wide variation go beyond differences in model specification, estimation methods, and period of estimation to involve factors such as trade policies and changes in the supply and demand conditions of foreign countries. In view of the continual variation in magnitude, the elasticity of export demand should be viewed as a variable rather than as a parameter. In this study, U.S. wheat export demand elasticities are computed using a world wheat trade model. The estimates show that the elasticities vary significantly over time. They also reveal that elimination of trade barriers would more than double wheat export demand elasticities.

The producer subsidy equivalent (PSE) measure was developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for measuring agricultural support or assistance. PSE can be utilized in the analysis of transition economies because it exhibits high sensitivity to the adjusted exchange rates and margins of transition economies. The method can be utilized as a comparative measure that will improve the quality and quantity of economic data for transition economies.

Major issues and challenges encountered in modeling and analyzing agricultural and trade policy reforms are reviewed. We focus on the modeling approach and pay special attention to the type and scope of the models, the calibration of a realistic baseline scenario, the representation of the reform agreement, the use of extra-model information, the choice of metrics to measure reform impacts, and emerging issues in policy modeling. Existing solutions and unresolved issues are examined. We stress the complementarity of various modeling approaches in assessing policy reforms and the importance of helping users understand the limitations of the chosen approach. Keywords: agricultural policy, economic modeling, trade agreements. JEL classification: Q17, Q18, F13

The FAPRI modeling system used for the analysis provides information about the impact of the European Union's (EU) proposed "Agenda 2000" Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms on U.S. crops and livestock sectors, international trade balance, world prices, and on commodity supply and use in selected countries. The proposed CAP changes are intended to improve EU agricultural competitiveness and market orientation.

The Baltic Free Trade Agreement (BFTA) was signed in 1993, took effect on April 1, 1994, and is intended to be the first step in the formation of a customs union. However, agricultural products (agriculture, food industry, and fisheries) were excluded from the initial text, which provided that a separate agreement covering the missing trade areas would be worked out. The process of reaching this agreement was a long and difficult one, and policy asymmetry was a major obstacle throughout the negotiations, since Estonia had no import tariffs and the other countries had tariffs ranging from 20 to 60 percent. Finally, in May 1996 leaders of the three countries personally agreed that they would accept free trade for all products of the three countries meeting a domestic rules of origin requirement. The governments of the three countries promptly worked out the specifics of an agreement, which was signed in June 1996. By October 4, 1996, the Parliaments of all three countries had ratified the agreement, and it became law on January 1, 1997.

The Export Enhancement Program (EEP) was initiated under the Food Security Act of 1985 to offset the adverse effects of unfair trade practices on U.S. exports and to support U.S. prices. More recently, EEP has been constrained by both GATT and the FAIR Act. This study measures the impacts of the elimination of the EEP on U.S. wheat exports and prices over the coming 10-year period. The commodity trade models at the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) are used to analyze the policy question.

This manual describes the worksheet version of the Food Aid and Food Security Analysis System (FAFSAS) for Honduras. It details the step-by-step procedure of using the analytical system for policy analysis and includes a conceptual framework and model that combine FAPRI data with country-specific information, described in a series of equation.

The scope and purpose of this manual for Jamaica are the same as those of the technical manual for Honduras: it provides the basic tools for successfully using and managing the Food Aid and Food Security Analysis System. The manual includes instructions for conducting various policy analyses using this analytical system as well as worksheet documentation of the FAFSAS model.

Land reform and asset privatization are essential to the transformation of agriculture from a state controlled to privately operated sector and to its future development in a market oriented economy. Although these are necessary conditions for economic development under a market oriented regime, they are not sufficient conditions. In this paper we review the progress achieved in farm restructuring through land reform and asset privatization and the impacts of this restructuring on the structure of farming and production in Lithuania. We then elaborate the main conditions for sustainable agricultural development in a market economy.

The conventional wisdom on agricultural trade has been that trade barriers are primarily determined by domestic agricultural and food price policies. For example, European Union (EU) import levies and export subsidies were determined by intervention and threshold prices, and U.S. sugar import quotas were driven by the domestic price support level. This is why agricultural trade barriers escaped General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) jurisdiction for so long and why even the modest liberalization of the Uruguay Round Agreement with respect to agricultural products was so difficult to achieve. Liberalization of agricultural trade in many countries required changes in the level and/or the mechanism of domestic support programs.

Since many of the conditions taken for granted in mature market economies cannot be assumed for transition economies such as Russia, the validity of producer subsidy equivalents (PSE) measures is questionable. The authors calculate PSEs for Russia, being careful in the selection of appropriate farm prices and reference prices, and conduct a sensitivity analysis to indicate how the results could be influenced by changes in key assumptions. They also provide appropriate interpretations of PSE estimations for major agricultural commodities.

The international wheat market has received much attention from researchers because of the perception that noncompetitive elements exist in the market. This study examines price dynamics among the United States, Canada, Australia, the European Union, and Argentina using a cointegration and error correction approach. Unlike some past studies, the results here suggest that there is no distinct price leader in the international wheat market.

All or most of the Central and East European Countries (CEECs), including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, are waiting for, and are at various stages of preparing for, integration with the European Union (EU). It is no longer a question of whether this will occur, but rather a question of when and how. Today, it is clear that in its enlargement strategy, the EU is likely to treat the associated countries as one or more regional blocks and strongly encourage closer cooperation within and among these regions prior to accession. Agriculture is only one of numerous sectors that have to deal with integration issues and processes, and in many cases it may not be the most important concern of policy makers preparing for integration. However, agriculture is generally the most protected sector in the CEECs and the EU alike, so integration of agricultural markets and policies is a sensitive issue on both sides of the current EU border. After reviewing several key considerations countries must face in preparing for accession, we contrast the policy approaches taken by Lithuania and Hungary. Hungary had an earlier start in the transition process, has taken a more market-oriented approach to domestic support programs, and has relied more heavily on border measures to protect domestic markets.

How can economists estimate consumption parameters by income classes? The approach used in this paper combines price elasticities estimated from aggregated market data and income-class-specific elasticities derived from household expenditure surveys using Slutsky relationships to calculate income-class-specific price elasticities. The approach was applied to estimate income-class-specific price elasticities for major agricultural commodities consumed in Jamaica.

Meyers uses the FAPRI agricultural commodity models to help analyze how the final passage of the GATT agreement will impact Russia, the Newly Independent States (NIS), and Central and Eastern Europe. While there are benefits from the GATT accord, he notes that the GATT agreement cannot be seen as a substitute for the efforts that are needed on developing more efficient production and processing systems, improved marketing infrastructure, and improved quality and diversity of products.

The Law of One Price (LOP) is an important component of most, if not all, international trade models because this assumption allows researchers to use a single representative price for all regions. This paper examines the long-run LOP for international commodity prices using a generalized notion of cointegration called fractional cointegration. This analysis is applied to nine pairs of price series, supporting the existence of LOP in eight cases.

In the less than four years since Lithuanian independence, trade and trade policy have changed rapidly; and longer run tendencies in policies and trade patterns are beginning to emerge. This paper provides a brief overview of the traditional prereform trading arrangements and reviews the key stages in policy development by the independent Lithuanian state, the major trade patterns and arrangements, and prospects for the future.

Using a formula to estimate per acre costs at 70, 75, and 80 percent levels of coverage, this study provides estimates of the government cost of the revenue assurance plan, one of the alternative proposals for the 1995 Farm Bill. These costs are compared with results from previous studies and with crop insurance premiums. The authors conclude that a revenue assurance program would result in substantial budget savings over the current program.

What agricultural opportunities may be opened to countries such as Egypt due to the liberalization of world trade? This paper discusses the effects of changes in market access, domestic support, and export competition outlined in the recent General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and explains how these changes will affect world agricultural trade in rice, cotton, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, oranges, and dates.

Issues, choices, and strategies in the transformation of collective and state farms in transition economies are explored. Analysis includes how other reforms have an impact on the transition in farming systems and farm structure. Economic forces to direct the changing structure of farming to the maximum extent possible should be allowed. The role of the government is to create an appropriate legal, economic, and institutional environment for the transition process to be carried out successfully.

Experiences in transition economies have shown that the simultaneity of macroeconomic and sectoral reforms is important to the success of both. In Lithuania, macroeconomic, agrarian, and other sectoral reforms were implemented concurrently. Real wages and income have declined sharply, inflation has been reduced to low single digit levels, the real exchange rate has appreciated substantially and stabilized, and the real value of foreign trade and trade dependence in the East has fallen substantially. Restructuring and privatization of state and collective farms has been progressing rapidly, and the privatization of other enterprises in the food and agricultural chain has been going at a slower pace. Input prices and retail prices have increased in real terms while real product prices have declined. The food and agricultural sector has contracted and in a market economy will likely remain far less dependant on imported inputs and on export markets for products.

Since the convening of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), agricultural trade policies have been a prime issue of these negotiations. The European Union (EU) Agricultural Commission responded to the pressures of such focus on agricultural policies as well as to internal budget pressures by submitting the 1992 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform package, a unilateral move by the EU to answer both internal and external concerns. A number of economic studies have examined the 1992 CAP reform package in order to assess its impacts on the EU and world agriculture. This paper summarizes the results of several studies on the effects of the CAP reform plan. First, a brief summation of the CAP reform schedule is given. Next, descriptions of the models used to derive the results and the processes used to obtain comparable figures are explained. The third section provides a comparison of results from these studies covering cereal, oilseeds, livestock, and dairy markets. In the fourth section, the compatibility of CAP reform and the Dunkel proposals is discussed, using information from the studies. In conclusion, an annex contains the original results from the studies.

The Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community in 1957, defined the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). These objectives, contained in Article 39, follow: 1) Increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring rational development of agricultural production and optimum use of the production factors, particularly labor. 2) Ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particular by increasing the individual earning of the persons engaged in agriculture. 3) Stabilize markets. 4) Assure the availability of supplies. 5) Ensure that supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices. The objectives of the CAP have been met, mostly through price policies that traditionally have been tied to production. The result of these policies is that production of many agricultural commodities has increased beyond levels necessary to meet CAP objectives and excess supplies have accumulated, been exported with subsidies, or both, at great expense to the European Community.

The strongest justification for government involvement in agricultural commodity markets is the instability in U.S. food and agricultural markets that affects both consumers and producers through food supply and price volatility (Tweetin 1993). This instability comes from many sources, including weather conditions, domestic and foreign agricultural programs and policies, and other causes of price variability. All of these factors work to increase volatility in producer revenues and consumer food expenditures. Federal programs oriented towards reducing farm-level revenue instability--such as commodity programs, crop insurance, and disaster assistance--continue to be criticized, implying that these programs have not succeeded in achieving stated goals. In "Agricultural Policy Reform: A Proposal," Harrington and Doering (1993a) suggest an alternative to the current federal commodity program system. In a follow-up defense of the article, they exclaimed, "Let's get some more new ideas on the table!" It is evident that this challenge was answered before it was received.

Agricultural production, consumption, and trade patterns are being influenced by major economic and policy changes. Among the most important are the reform of the CAP and a possible GATT agreement. A baseline containing CAP reform is compared to a GATT agreement and a scenario without CAP reform to obtain the impacts of these changes on world trade and prices of agricultural commodities.

The two related papers in this report were prepared for two conferences in Estonia in May 1993. The first paper (Saku) discusses alternative policy directions for Lithuanian agriculture and provides a qualitative assessment of these options. The second paper (Tartu) uses a simulation model for Lithuanian agricultural markets to analyze the impacts of three policy scenarios. The reference or baseline scenario assumes that real prices will increase at a specified rate. This forms the basis for comparison of two other scenarios. One assumes that domestic prices reach world market parity prices by 1995, allowing only for a quality discount of 15 percent for meat products. The other scenario assumes the extreme self-sufficiency case, where all imports and exports are zero and prices are solved for equilibrium levels.

Lithuania has been progressing rapidly in the privatization of agriculture and the development of market economy mechanisms. An important component of the transition reforms has been the deregulation of input, farm, and consumer prices. The context, processes, and results of the price policies are examined for the major food and agricultural products. As of November 1992, real input prices and consumer prices have increased, while real farm prices and real wages have declined compared with prereform levels in 1990. The large gap that previously existed between retail prices in state stores and private market levels food and agricultural product prices are still well below border prices. How these will evolve in the longer term depends on the domestic market and foreign trade policy regime that has yet to be adopted by the government.

A theory of short-run competitive firm behavior allowing for nonmyopic risk aversion, randomness in input and output prices, as well as forward trading and storage of final good and material input is introduced. If the firm is a forward looking risk-averse expected-utility maximizer, separation of production and storage from hedging decisions is obtained. Production and storage are shown to depend only upon forward and cash prices and to be independent of the agent's degree of risk aversion and the distribution of random prices. Comparative statics are derived regarding production, purchases, and sales. The hypotheses advanced are tested empirically with monthly data pertaining to the U.S. soybean-processing industry. The results support the model and suggest that in stationary equilibrium futures prices of the soybean complex have had little influence on crushings or production, but they have been important determinants of inventory levels. Both theoretical and empirical results indicate that short-run firm behavior is more complex than is generally assumed in the literature. They also suggest long-term firm behavior can be better understood by studying its short-term behavior rather than using the medium- to long-run models that are currently available.

The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are undertaking rapid economic and structural reforms affecting the food and agricultural sectors. The environmental problems related to agriculture now and in the recent past are more in the area of chemical and animal waste runoff than in soil erosion. The radical change in economic incentives and progressing structural change in farming systems have already reduced chemical use and the intensity of livestock production. Some effects of the transition may also have negative environmental effects, as institutions and farming systems are in an unsettled state. The long-term effects of the reforms on the environment policies and the speed with which improved technologies for chemical use and waste management are transferred to farmers and farming partnerships are discussed.

This paper examines the impact of domestic and foreign macroeconomic variables on U.S. meat exports, including beef, pork, turkey, and chicken, in the context of an open economy. The results show that foreign macroeconomic variables exert more significant and persistent effects on U.S. meat exports than domestic macroeconomic variables. The implication is that the U.S. can increase its meat exports more effectively by expending efforts on international macroeconomic policy coordination rather than on domestic sectoral policy. The results also suggest that macroeconomic models of the agricultural sector should include foreign variables and should not be limited only to domestic ones.

The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have been undertaking rapid economic and structural reforms that greatly affect the food and agricultural sectors. Among the republics of the former Soviet Union, they are progressing most rapidly in the privatization of land and production assets and in the transition to a market economy. The papers in this report describe these reforms and the progress to date in restructuring agriculture and liberalizing prices and related government regulations. This paper summarizes and compares the previous reform structure of agriculture, the reform processes and the results of reforms in the three Baltic states as of spring 1992. It should be emphasized that there are many differences in initial conditions and in reform programs in the three countries, even though their goals are very similar.

This report presents estimates of supply, demand, and price transmission elasticities for the U.S. livestock, poultry, and dairy sectors. The estimates are derived from models maintained by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) and are prepared in accordance with procedures stipulated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

This paper reviews the price subsidy reforms in each of the Baltic States from 199 to 1992 and provides a comparison of the differing decisions and preliminary results. Although price levels and compensation mechanisms differ, the pattern in all three states is to let negotiations between producers and processors set producer prices and to limit the profit mark-up by processors, wholesalers, and retailers. For consumers, price increases were partially offset by direct income transfers. Although Estonia preceded the others by removing most price controls in July 1991, Lithuania and Latvia did the same in late 1991 and early 1992.

The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) received a request in mid-February to analyze the proposed changes to agriculture and agricultural trade made by Arthur Dunkel. These changes essentially fall into three areas. 1) Export Competition. Subsidies are subject to reduction in two ways. Expenditures are to be reduced by 36 percent and quantities exported with the benefit of subsidies are to be reduced by 24 percent from 1986-90 average levels. 2) Internal Support. Using a world reference price based on the 1986-88 average levels, internal supports as measured by an aggregate measure of support (AMS) are to be reduced by 20 percent from 1986 levels. Credit will be given for support reductions made since 1986. 3) Market Access. Import restrictions are to be converted to tariffs and reduced across the board by a simple average of 36 percent. Tariffs on individual commodities are to be reduced by at least 15 percent. Where import barriers are in place, either minimum access of 3 percent of domestic consumption in 1993, rising to 5 percent in 1999, or minimum access of 1986-88 average import levels is to be provided, whichever is greater.

The Baltic Republics have undertaken extensive price reforms for food and agricultural products. Higher producer and consumer prices, accompanied by wage increases and income subsidies to offset higher prices, are expected to improve market efficiency. The goal is to move toward private enterprise in the agribusiness sector. The role of pricing in market economies is discussed in the context of other steps that need to be taken in developing a market system for food and agricultural products. Specific attention is given to pricing in harmony with international markets and broader research tasks that can support the policy reform process. Note: This paper is based on conditions and data as of the end of April 1991. Other price changes have occurred since then, and Estonia removed most price controls in July 1991. At the time of publication the three republics had been recognized as independent states, so a major obstacle to implementing reforms has been removed; but the pricing issues remain essentially the same.

The soybean trade model is one of the three models in the trade modeling system developed, updated, and maintained by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD). The other two commodity trade models are for wheat and the feed-grains complex. The three trade models are linked through cross-price linkages in the supply and demand components of these models, yet each model can be solved independently. In general, however, all three trade models are solved iteratively to obtain a simultaneous solution. Equilibrium price, quantities of supply and demand, and net trade are determined by equating excess demands and supplies across regions and explicitly linking prices in each region to a world reference price.

Lithuania is one of three Baltic republics. Its area is 25.2 thousand square miles and it has a total population of 3.72 million people. The republic is currently moving towards independence. There are numerous political changes as a result. One outcome of these political changes is the reform of existing economic policies that have been governed by highly centralized planning systems since the incorporation of the republic into the Soviet Union in 1940. All sectors of the economy will be affected by these economic policy changes. Economists, government legislators, and leaders of agricultural and industrial enterprises were heavily involved in the process of formulation of economic reforms. The final goal of the reforms is to move towards a market-oriented economy. Within this framework of overall reform, the agricultural sector has been emphasized because of its nature and its importance to the national economy. Traditionally, the republic has been agriculturally oriented. For instance, the contribution of the agro-industry to the total GNP of the republic was 5.4 percent in 1989, compared with 42.6 percent in 1980 and 50.3 percent in 1975. The rural population, heavily employed in the agricultural sector, comprises 31.5 percent of the republic's total population.