Effects on income distribution and nutrition of alternative rice price policies in Thailand

Individual chapters evaluate the effects of price increases on paddy supply, the rural farm wage rate, the caloric intake of paddy farmers and other consumers, and income and food consumption by the poor. The study suggests that an increase in rice prices would probably have only a minimal effect on the rural farm wage rate and on overall income distribution, but would decrease the amount of income spent on rice by, and thus calorie intake levels among, paddy farmers (about 25% of whom are net purchasers of rice) and other low-income groups. In short, a rise in the domestic rice price in Thailand would be much less favorable to the rural poor than is widely believed and would create for many of them short-run hardships that would require compensatory measures in both rural and urban areas, at least during a transitional period. The analysis is supported by 51 tables and 15 figures; appended are a 5-page bibliography (1960-84) and procedures for estimating the labor supply function and calculating calorie intake figures.