de Gorter, Harry

Associate Professor
Harry de Gorter teaches and conducts research on the political economy and applied welfare economics of agricultural trade policy. Much of his recent work has been on biofuels and agricultural trade reform and the Doha Development Agenda, especially the impact of subsidies and protection on developing countries. His research is both theoretical and empirical with direct policy implications for governments, international institutions and non-governmental organizations. Prior to Cornell, he worked for the International Trade Policy Division of the Canadian government. He has long been actively involved in advising many governments and organizations on issues related to agriculture trade policy including the EU, FAO, G-20, IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, World Bank and WTO. Harry de Gorter has published over 80 articles and book chapters, including in the International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, Handbook of Economics and Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy. Books with his chapter in it have twice won the AAEA’s Quality of Communication Award, and he has won the Best Article Award in the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Recent papers focus on the economics of biofuel policies, WTO disciplines on agriculture, alternative agricultural import barriers, domestic subsidy programs and export subsidies, and the impact of trade liberalization. Several recent papers analyze tariff rate import quotas, decoupled payments, the effects of EU and US farm policy, the politics of trade negotiations and rent seeking, export subsidies, and the interaction between the environment, technological change and trade. Current research projects include the welfare economics of biofuel policies, implication of preferential tariffs and quotas for least developed countries, the economics of alternative tariff rate import quota administration methods, analysis of alternative proposals in the WTO for tariff reduction and quota expansion formulas, the economics of WTO trade disputes (specifically the US cotton, EU sugar and CDN dairy cases), the economics of decoupled payments, how state trading enterprises subsidize exports and limit imports, alternative measures of trade distortion, and the political economy of agricultural trade negotiations. His research in the area of political economy also focuses on factors affecting price policy bias in world agriculture and on the joint determination of commodity policy and the provision of public goods in agriculture.

research

research and scholarship focus

My overall research program focuses on agriculture policy and trade issues in the context of globalization. Trade is globalization: the integration of economies through markets across frontiers. Barriers to trade and subsidies in agriculture are of particular importance because a majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas. In addition to inefficiency, the costs of agricultural policies fall disproportionately on the poor in both industrial and developing countries. Trade is a major issue for U.S. agriculture as interest groups, governments and international institutions need to know the efficiency and equity effects of trade barriers and farm subsidies on domestic and world markets not only for ongoing negotiations in the WTO but also for bilateral trade agreements. The research is also important because the United States is involved in several key trade disputes with other countries. Agricultural trade policy issues are of paramount importance, be it in New York, the United States or in developing countries.|I publish my research in both journals and books, and am often invited to meetings advising the public institutions and think tanks on issues related to agricultural trade. Current research projects include the implication of preferential tariffs and quotas, the economics of alternative tariff rate import quota administration methods, analysis of alternative proposals in the WTO for tariff reduction and quota expansion formulas, and the economics of WTO trade disputes.|My published and unpublished research continues to be discussed and referenced widely amongst academia, governments, international institutions and non-governmental organizations. I am considered a leading expert in my field and I regularly advise prominent institutions on a regular basis including the G-20, World Bank, WTO and FAO. My research output continues to impact the agenda of academia, trade policy organizations and governments.

research areas

international geographic focus

affiliations

faculty appointment in

member of graduate field

service

event organizer

publications

selected publications (listing in progress)

  • Hranaiova, J., and H. de Gorter. Forthcoming. State Trading and Tariff Rate Import Quotas: The Case of Korea’s Rice Imports. Review of Development Economics.
  • Hranaiova, J., H. de Gorter and J. Falk. 2006. The Economics of Administering Import Quotas with Licenses-on-Demand in Agriculture. American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
  • de Gorter, H., and E. Kliauga. 2005. Reducing Tariffs versus Expanding Tariff Rate Quotas. In Agricultural Trade Reform and the Doha Development Agenda, edited by K. Anderson and W. Martin, Palgrave Macmillan and the World Bank.
  • de Gorter, H.   2005. Export Subsidies: Agricultural Policy Reform and Developing Countries. In Trade, Doha and Development: A Window into the Issues, edited by R. Newfarmer, The World Bank.
  • Chau, N., and H. de Gorter. 2005. Disentangling the Consequences of Direct Payments in Agriculture on Fixed Costs, Exit Decisions and Output. American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
  • Anderson, K., H. de Gorter and W. Martin. 2005. Market Access Barriers in Agriculture and Options for Reform. In Trade, Doha and Development: A Window into the Issues, edited by R. Newfarmer, The World Bank.
  • Hranaiova, J., and H. de Gorter. 2005. Rent Seeking with Politically Contestable Rights to Import Quotas. Review of International Economics.
  • de Gorter, H., and C. Short. 2004. The Distributional Effects of Alternative Domestic and Trade Policy Reforms for Field Crops in OECD Countries. In Agriculture and the WTO: Creating a Trading System for Development, edited by M. Ingco and J. Nash, The Oxford University Press.
  • Baffes, J., and H. de Gorter. 2004. The Experience with Decoupling Agricultural Support. In Global Protection and Trade in Agriculture, edited by A. Aksoy and J. Beghin, The Oxford University Press.
  • de Gorter, H. 2004. Market Access, Export Subsidies and Domestic Support Measures: Issues and Suggestions for New Rules in the Agreement on Agriculture. In Agriculture and the New Trade Agenda: Creating a Global Trading Environment for Development, edited by M. Ingco and A. Winters, Cambridge University Press.
  • de Gorter, H., and J. Hranaiova. 2004. Quota Administration Methods: Economics and Effects with Trade Liberalization. In Agriculture and the WTO: Creating a Trading System for Development, edited by M. Ingco and J. Nash, The Oxford University Press.
  • Pokrivcák, J., H. de Gorter and J. Swinnen. 2003. The Political Economy of European Integration. Journal of Economics.
  • Peterson, J., R. Boisvert and H. de Gorter. 2002. Environmental Policies for a Multifunctional Agricultural Sector in Open Economies. European Review of Agricultural Economics.
  • de Gorter, H., and J. Liu. 2002. Managing tariff quotas for grains in China: possible effects on imports and domestic prices. In China in the Global Economy: Agricultural Policies in China after WTO Accession, OECD, Paris.
  • Swinnen J., and H. de Gorter. 2002. On Government Credibility, Compensation, and Underinvestment in Public Research. European Review of Agricultural Economics.
  • Banerjee, A., J. Swinnen and H. de Gorter. 2001. Economic Development, Institutional Change, and the Political Economy of Agricultural Protection. Agricultural Economics.
  • de Gorter, H., G. Rausser and A. Schmitz. 2001. Rent Seeking and International Trade in Agriculture. In Agricultural Globalization, Trade and the Environment, edited by A Schmitz, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • de Gorter H. 2001. Agricultural Policy in the WTO: Methods of Measuring Farm Support Must be Made Fairer. European Affairs.
  • Schluep, I., and H. de Gorter. 2000. The Law and Economics of 'Consumer only' Financed Export Subsidies – A Context for the WTO's Dispute Settlement Panel on Canadian Dairy Policy," Agrarwirtschaft und Agrarsoziologie.
  • de Gorter, H., and I. Sheldon. 2000. Issues in the Administration of Tariff-Rate Import Quotas in the Agreement on Agriculture in the WTO. Agricultural and Resource Economic Review.
  • de Gorter, H., and J. Pokrivcák . 2000. The Politics of Central and Eastern Europe Joining the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy. In Agriculture and East-West Integration, edited by J. Swinnen, Avebury Press.
  • Swinnen, J., and H. de Gorter. 1998. Endogenous Commodity Policy and the Social Benefits from Public Research Expenditures. American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
  • de Gorter H., and J. Swinnen. 1998. The Impact of Economic Development on Redistributive and Public Research Policies in Agriculture. Review of Development Economics.
  • de Gorter, H., and J. Swinnen. 1994. The Economic Polity of Farm Policy. Journal of Agricultural Economics.
  • Swinnen, J., and H. de Gorter. 1993. Why Small Groups and Low Income Sectors Obtain Subsidies: The Altruistic Side of a Self-Interested Government. Economics and Politics.
  • de Gorter, H., and E. Fisher. 1993. The Dynamic Effects of Agricultural Subsidy Programs in the United States. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
  • de Gorter, H., D. Nielson and G. Rausser. 1992. Productive and Predatory Public Policies: Research Expenditures and Producer Subsidies in Agriculture. American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
  • de Gorter, H. 1992. Agricultural Policies and the GATT: A Rawlsian Perspective. In Mechanisms to Improve Agricultural Trade Performance Under the GATT, edited by T. Becker, R. Gray and A. Schmitz, Wissenschaftsverlag Vauk.
  • de Gorter, H., and Y. Tsur. 1991. Explaining Price Policy Bias in Agriculture: The Calculus of Support Maximizing Politicians. American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
  • de Gorter, H., and D. Zilberman. 1990. On the Political Economy of Public Good Inputs in Agriculture. American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
  • de Gorter, H., and Y. Tsur. 1990. The Political Economy of Agricultural Policy and Trade. In Imperfect Competition and Political Economy: The New Trade Theory in Agricultural Trade Research, edited by C. Carter, A. McCalla and J. Sharples, Westview Press.
  • de Gorter, H., and K. Meilke. 1989. Efficiency of Alternative Policies for the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. American Journal of Agricultural Economics .
Keywords: agricultural policy, biofuels policies, development economics, globalization, international trade, international trade policy, public policy analysis, subsidies, WTO