Joachim von Braun

Poverty, Subsistence Production, and Consumption of Food in Russia: Policy Implications

Falling real incomes, inequality in income distribution and the increased incidence of poverty have led to a both qualitative and quantitative deterioration in the average Russian’s diet. This analysis, which is based on a comprehensive household survey conducted in the mid-1990s, reveals that 19 percent of Russian families are poor according to at least two of the different poverty indicators used. It shows that, for the majority of rural and urban households, subsistence production of food is an important private mechanism for coping with the transformation risks of market failures. The subsistence sector is likely to be a long-term reality in Russia, that will continue to exist at least until the economy stabilizes and a sound social-security system supersedes this private insurance mechanism.

Research Implications: Beyond Transition

Even though the transition period is far from complete, the collection of articles in this volume indicates that we are now at the stage of finalizing the first period of research on the transition process. This first round mainly focused on questions such as: What did happen and what is happening as economies have been liberalizing, privatizing, restructuring and stabilizing? The description of what happened while these overlapping processes took place has in the meantime become relatively detailed.

Egypt and the enlargement of the EEC : Impact on the agricultural sector

Abstract This article examines the impact of the second enlargement of the EEC on the agricultural sector of Egypt. The authors consider the impacts on Egypts agricultural trade and, through the use of a linear programming model, the long term impacts of EEC enlargement. The authors conlude that, in short run, the southward expansion of the EEC will impose only a limited additional burden on the Egyptian economy. But, in the long run the burden placed on Egypt by increased protectionism in the expanded EEC could be much more severe.