Evaluating the Competitiveness of US Agricultural Market Commodities

The US has incurred large and persistent agricultural and food trade surpluses over the past two decades. However, as world's economies become more interrelated with globalization and trade liberalization, US agricultural sectors will be more exposed to global markets. The ability of the US to maintain exports will, therefore, depend on competitiveness which in turn hinges on improved productivity, willingness to adapt to changing forces in demand and supply, and continued evolution of trade-oriented policies. Traditional studies of competitiveness focus on comparative costs or market participation. However, subsidies distort costs and market shares especially in agriculture. This book, therefore, evaluates the competitiveness of US agricultural market commodities by including quantitative factors, such as technological innovation measured by research and development, seldom included in studies of competitiveness. The analysis sheds more light on the factors that influence the competitiveness US agricultural export commodities. This makes this an important book for the stakeholders, researchers, and policy-makers in the agricultural sector and agri-business marketing.