Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Times Have Changed:
Learning New Ways of Doing Business
SHAHIDUR RASHID, ASHOK GULATI,
AND RALPH CUMMINGS JR.
The late Arthur Mosher recounted traveling across the Indo-Gangetic Plain in
the 1950s with a friend who asked, “Will this region ever be as productive as
Iowa?” Although Mosher had lived and worked in that region of India for many
years, he had not asked himself such a question: “I realized that I had been guilty
of a common error. Too frequently we ask ourselves only 'what should we do
next?' We do not look far enough down the years, visualize what should hap-
pen ultimately, then work backward to the present as well as forward from
where we are now in developing our plans” (Mosher 1969, xv).
The Issues Restated
The initial success stories of agricultural parastatals in Asia are well known and
widely acknowledged. However, recent experiences have been mixed or even
counterproductive in some countries. This topic has attempted to document
these diverse experiences by undertaking in-depth case studies as well as cross-
country syntheses. The focus has been on the following two sets of questions,
one relating to the price policy in general and the other involving the institu-
tional mechanisms through which they are implemented:
• The underlying rationales justifying public intervention are dynamic and
should change over time. If so, the price policies, as well as the regulatory
supports to the parastatals, should change or adjust to new conditions. Has
this been the case? What lessons do we learn about the potential benefits
and challenges of adjusting price policies?
• Even if private trade can be relied on to ensure efficient resource alloca-
tion, given the current level of poverty and price volatility in the world
market, the need for SSNs and price stabilization within a reasonable price
band will remain. But do these measures have to be administered in their
current form—that is, linking them by parastatals? What are the available
alternatives and how could they be promoted?
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