Why might less-developed countries be unhappy with such policies?

Question

Many advanced industrialized countries subsidize farmers. Assume that the effect of the subsidy is to shift the supply curve of agricultural products by farmers in the advanced industrialized countries to the right. Why might less-developed countries be unhappy with such policies?

Answer 1

I don't understand when you mean by shifting the supply curve to "the right" - you don't tell what the right is in relation to. But, nevertheless, I am opinionated ;-) so I'm giving you my thoughts on farm subsidies.

Farming is labor-intensive and expensive. It requires large chunks of land and resources. In countries where land, labor, transportation and resources (like water and fertilizer) are expensive a government may choose to pay subsidies to the farmers to help the local farmers stay in business.

Food grown on a local farm tastes better, is fresher and more nutritious than food shipped from across an ocean. The plants on the farm help clean our air by fixing the carbon from cars or the population. Creeks and marshes in the farmland help clean the water flowing in our rivers. Open land offers habitat to wild animals that contribute to the richness of our environment. So we in industrialized nations want to keep as many people farming as possible.

Farmers in less industrialized nations have lower cost for land, labor and farming resources. They pay less for transportation depending on how far they need to move their products. They could charge less for their products and undercut the prices of the farmers from industrialized nations, putting these industrialized farmers out of business. Countries may also impose tariffs on imported farm products. Tariffs can make the produce from foreign farms slightly more expensive; while subsidies can make locally grown product slightly cheaper.

I'm sure less-industrialized countries are unhappy with both subsidies and tariffs as it makes their products less attractive to consumers in the grocery store.

Answer 2

the definition of a less-developed countries in more agrarian in nature and less industrialized...putting more agricultural supply into an already mostly farming society just increases waste because there is no infracture to move the products to where there is demand...that waste increases frustration and a subsidy to farmers in that situation is an inefficient use of capital

Answer 3

farmers in less developed countries are not subsidized and have their products competing with products from farmers who have received subsidy in their advanced countries and can afford to charge lower prices, in the home of the low income country farmer. subsidies in industrialized countries leads to dumping of goods in low income countries and the crowding and squeezing out of low income counytry farmers who can not compete effectively.

Answer 4

Because governments of less developed countries need to have a reason to scream about something besides themselves to justify the fact that they are less developed to their own population. Imagine a prime minister saying, "we are a less developed country because we have a corrupt judiciary, massive government ownership of land, real estate, and businesses, overblown military, ineffective law enforcement, tons of completely unnecessary bureaucracy, and a central bank that has maintained a repressive financial enviromnent for the last 30 years". Doesn't happen, does it?