TY - BOOK ID - 133420276 TI - The Extent of the Market and Stages of Agricultural Specialization AU - Emran, M. Shahe AU - Shilpi, Forhad PY - 2008 PB - Washington, D.C., The World Bank, DB - UniCat KW - Access to markets KW - Agriculture KW - Commercialization KW - Crops and Crop Management Systems KW - Debt Markets KW - Expenditure KW - Finance and Financial Sector Development KW - International trade KW - Macroeconomics and Economic Growth KW - Marketing KW - Markets and Market Access KW - Political Economy KW - Price risk KW - Relevant market KW - Sales KW - Spread KW - Thin market KW - Transport KW - Transport Economics, Policy and Planning UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:133420276 AB - This paper provides empirical evidence of nonlinearity in the relationship between crop specialization in a village economy and the extent of the market (size of the urban market) relevant for the village. The results suggest that the portfolio of crops in a village economy becomes more diversified initially as the extent of the market increases. However, after the market size reaches a threshold, the production structure becomes specialized again. This evidence on the stages of agricultural diversification is consistent with the stages of diversification identified in the recent literature for the economy as a whole and also for the manufacturing sector. The evidence highlights the importance of improving farmers' access to markets through investment in transport infrastructure and removal of barriers to trading. ER -