The political economy of food subsidy reform: the case of Egypt

Gutner, Tamar

doi:10.1016/s0306-9192(02)00049-0

Cited by 46 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…There are no reliable estimates of the magnitude and costs of leakages, but they could really be substantial considering the reported profitability of the diversion (Barnameh, 1 November 2003;Hamshahri, 26 February 1998;5 January 2002;16 June 2003;and 23 August 2003). The experiences of other countries with food subsidies such as Egypt and Morocco also show that leakages tend to be significant (Ahmed et al, 2001;Gutner, 2002;Kennedy and Alderman, 1987). The Iranian bread system becomes even more expensive because wheat and flour markets are strictly regulated.…”

Section: Benefits Costs and The Need For Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bienen and Gersovitz (1986) also show that subsidy cuts may or may not be followed by violent reactions and riots. The riots rarely resulted in lasting political destabilization but historical experience shows that such protests may still trigger a chain of events that can lead to important political reforms or regime changes (Bienen and Gersovitz, 1986;Gutner, 2002;Hopkins, 1988;Walton and Seddon, 1994).…”

Section: Reforming the Bread Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Governments' strategy may include various measures: (i) carefully explaining the reasons for the reform, (ii) gradual reduction of the subsidies and moving to higher prices, (iii) targeting the diminished subsidies towards the politically most demanded groups, and (iv) avoiding direct price increases and considering alternative options (Bienen and Gersovitz, 1986;de Janvry and Subramanian, 1993;Gutner, 2002).…”

Section: Reforming the Bread Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The dilemma of cheap food and self-sufficiency: The case of wheat in Iran

Amid

2007

Food Policy

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Section: Benefits Costs and The Need For Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reforming the Bread Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reforming the Bread Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The dilemma of cheap food and self-sufficiency: The case of wheat in Iran

Amid

2007

Food Policy

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“…In many developing countries and in particular in South Mediterranean countries, consumer food subsidies are a major part of the social security safety net schemes (see Gutner, 2002). 2 The upward trend in food prices that started to emerge worldwide in the course of 2007, just before the global crisis, caused riots in the streets of Egypt until the Egyptian authorities intervened by among others the army baking additional bread.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Prices, Government Subsidies and Fiscal Balances in South Mediterranean Countries

Peeters

Albers

2012

SSRN Journal

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“…Rioting ended when the state reinstituted the food subsidies, and social welfare even improved until the mid-1980s. (Metz 1990;Sadowski 1991: 158-61;Walton and Seddon 1994: 172-3, 184-6;Gutner 2002). But welfare provision in real terms was sharply reduced during the later 1980s, especially for the poor (Harrigan and El-Said 2009: 80, 82-3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Riots and the Politics of Provisions in World History

Bohstedt

2014

IDS Working Papers

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SummaryThe food riots of 2007-8 in dozens of developing countries placed food security on the agendas of the global political economy. Material outcomes remain to be assessed. The problematic of the politics of provisions is: Under what circumstances do the common people's necessities create a political necessity for their rulers to act? What combination of ingredients gives them political leverage (or not)? Food riots (crowd violence: usually seizing food, intercepting carts and barges, or setting prices) set in motion political processes that often led to food relief and/or repression. To riot about food, rioters needed much more than motivations of hunger and outrage, or else world history would consist mostly of food riots. In addition rioters needed both sufficient solidarities to be able to act collectively, and sufficient confidence that the benefits (getting food, both immediately and in more sustained supply) would outweigh the risks and costs of repression and punishment. The latter would be based on reciprocal relationships with the rulers. The outcomes of such 'trials-by-ordeal' were then entered into social memory to be consulted in the next crisis. Of course rulers also had their social memories and political calculations. So the 'politics of provisions' -the political economy of food crises and their resolutions -has typically included such components as: political, social, and economic structures; the players' sociopolitical assets, capacities, and relationships; shared ideologies; strategic bargaining in the moment between chief actors; and accidental factors. Those components vary from one time and place to another, so this paper compares the politics of provisions in: pre-modern England and France; famines in Ireland and India; 'famine-proofed' Ming and Qing China; Mao's Great Leap Forward Famine; the IMF austerity riots of the 1970s and 80s; and the food riots of 2008, particularly in Egypt, West Africa, and Haiti. The point of such comparisons is not to construct a unified theory of provision politics, but to illuminate significant parameters that shape policies and conflicts over food.

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The political economy of food subsidy reform: the case of Egypt

Cited by 46 publications

References 5 publications

The dilemma of cheap food and self-sufficiency: The case of wheat in Iran

The dilemma of cheap food and self-sufficiency: The case of wheat in Iran

Food Prices, Government Subsidies and Fiscal Balances in South Mediterranean Countries

Food Riots and the Politics of Provisions in World History

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