This paper deals with the quantification of GMO regulations on bilateral trade flows. A composite index of the complexity of such regulations for sixty countries as well as an objective score for six GMO regulatory sub-dimensions has been developed. Using a gravity model, we show how bilateral...

This paper documents patterns in international trade costs in processed foods for a large cross-section of developing and developed countries, during the 1976-2000 period. A trade costs index is inferred from a micro-founded gravity equation that incorporates bilateral `iceberg?trade costs. For...

We investigate the effect of electoral rules and firms of government on public policy outcomes using a new dataset on agriculture and food policies from 74 countries over the 1960-2005 period. Using both cross-sectional and panel data analyses we find robust evidence that the specific nature of...

Using a bilateral trade equation derived from a monopolistic competition model, we investigated market access reciprocity in food trade among the US, Canada, the EU and Japan. We explore country and industry-specific market access asymmetry through the border effect approach, re-challenging the...

This paper deals with the quantification of GMO regulations on bilateral trade flows. A composite index of the ‘complexity' of such regulations for sixty countries as well as an ‘objective' score for six GMO regulatory sub-dimensions has been developed. Using a gravity model, we show how...

We study the political economy of instrument choice in agricultural and food policies. After a review of the historical evolution of European agricultural price and trade policy instruments since 1880, we develop a political economy model of instrument choice. The key predictions of the model...

This paper studies the effect of political regime transitions on public policy using a dataset on global agricultural distortions over 50 years (including data from 74 developing and developed countries over the period 1955-2005). We employ both difference-in-differences regressions and...

The paper develops a composite index of GMO standards restrictiveness for 60 countries, assigning objective scores to six different regulatory dimensions. Using this index and its components, we empirically investigate the political and economic detfirminants of GMO regulations. Results show...

Mass media plays a crucial role in infirmation distribution and thus in the political market and public policy making. Theory predicts that infirmation provided by mass media reflects the media's incentives to provide news to different types of groups in society, and affects these...

This paper provides evidence on private standards on genetically modified (GM) organisms for 44 retailers operating in 54 countries, distinguishing between retailers not using GM ingredients, and retailers using ingredients which are potentially GM in private label products. Using this...