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From price reporting systems to variable geometry oriented market information services

Galtier F., Egg J.. 1998. In : eds A. Kuyvenhoven, H.A.J. Moll, A. Van Tilburg. Agricultural markets beyond liberalization. Proceedings of the 57th Seminar of the European Association of Agricultural Economists, Wageningnen, the Netherlands, 23-26 September 1998. Wageningen : EAAE, 20 p.. EAAE Seminar. 57, 1998-09-23/1998-09-26, Wageningen (Pays-Bas).

Within the liberalisation policy context, market information systems (MIS) have become one of the main tools resorted to by public actions for the support of market building. Thus MIS have been established in a number of developing countries since the mid eighties. MIS assessment points out one paradox: despite the actual consensus regarding the fact that they correspond to a real need, their impact seems to be weak. Leaving aside technical failures, the restrictive choices adopted at their implementation stage account for this weakness. The focus has been almost exclusively on prices so as to promote spatial and temporal arbitrage in the short term. However, prices reveal to be an information which is inadequately adapted to economies characterised by a high degree of self-sufficiency, personalised exchanges and interlinked transactions. Within this context, actors need a far more complete information on the various aspects of transactions and their environment. This paper suggests to shift back to a larger conception of MIS, including also objectives intended to support storage and investment, innovation, public policies, and to reduce uncertainty about product quality or weights and measures. According to this variable geometry oriented conception, certain objectives will be given priority depending on the problems addressed.

Mots-clés : céréale; marché intérieur; information sur le marché; service d'information marchés; intervention de l'état; prix de marché; enquête; mali

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