Agriculture and Structural Transformation in an Open Economy: The Case of Ghana
Abstract
This research asks how the patterns of agricultural development and economic growth in Ghana are related to domestic transport costs. Previous research (Gollin and Rogerson 2010, 2012) has suggested that in countries with costly domestic transport and limited access to international markets for food, urban populations are likely to remain small and many people will depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. In this paper, we ask whether the same logic extends to a country like Ghana, where food imports are readily available and where cash crop exports represent an important part of the economy. The answer to this question can inform discussions about public investments in transportation infrastructure and about other interventions targeted to the agricultural sector. Our research aims to address some hitherto unanswered questions about the economy-wide implications of different public investment interventions.
Citation
Caselli, F.; Chen, S.; Gollin, D. Agriculture and Structural Transformation in an Open Economy: The Case of Ghana. (2012) 7 pp.
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