Scientific Publication

Tiger or turtle?

author(s) Lofgren, Hans - Robinson, Sherman - Nygaard, David F
from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
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themes
regions
  • Northern Africa
  • Africa
  • World
  • Western Asia
  • Asia
citation

Lofgren, Hans; Robinson, Sherman; Nygaard, David F, 'Tiger or turtle?', International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, 1996

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Abstract

A dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is used to explore alternative scenarios for 1990-2020 in areas critical for Egypt's economy -- productivity growth, investment, foreign trade, and water. The model is formulated as a mixed-complementarity problem, has a detailed treatment of agriculture, assumes competitive markets and determines efficient water allocation. A Turtle scenario extrapolates Egypt's recent poor productivity and low investment, while a "Tiger" scenario assumes East Asian performance. For the Turtle scenario, incomes are stagnant and a crisis emerges in the labor market. With rapid growth in export demand, investment and productivity, the "Tiger" scenario generates almost tripled per-capita incomes and full employment. Sensitivity analysis for the Tiger scenario suggests that growth in export demand is important, while tariff removal with no other policy changes has little effect. Increasing water scarcity hurts agriculture and labor absorption, but has little effect on overall growth."

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