Measuring Price Distortions on Botswana''s Beef Sector

This book measures price distortions and their effects on Botswana''s beef sector for the period 1976-1996. The book measures both the direct sector specific policies through the nominal protection coefficient and indirect policies through exchange rate misalignment. To measure the effects of price distortions on output and foreign exchange earnings use is made of the supply responsiveness estimated in this study. The study proceeds to determine the Government''s expenditure and investment policies on the beef sector and thier effects on the Government budget. The results of this study show that both direct and indirect policies have taxed the beef sector in most of the period covered. The effects of these have been a reduction in beef production and loss in foreign exchange earnings. However, the outcome of government expenditure policies has not been the generation of income. Both the indices of government investment bias and government expenditure bias show that there was bias against agriculture when the sector was contributing a large share to GDP and in favour when the sector''s contribution fell.