Redistribution of the commodity rent: fiscal structures and soybean production in South America.

• In Event: Agricultural Commodities, Land and Rents in South America

Abstract

The commodity boom of the last decade has encouraged many countries in the Global South, and particularly in Latin America, to return to a primary-export model. This has not been exclusive to minerals and energy commodities, but agricultural production destined to external markets has also expanded dramatically in the region. One of the most outstanding examples is the case of soybean, as its production and harvest area has been growing intensely particularly in the Southern Cone. However, the political context of this boom in Latin America saw a more involved state in the course of the national economy, and the peak in commodity prices offered the governments in the region a remarkable income of cash to be added to the state coffers. One of the principal means by which governments have appropriated or redistributed the profit generated by the soybean sector has been the tax structure.
This paper intends to analyse the different fiscal structures adopted by the main soybean producers in the Southern Cone – Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay – and to assess the distributional impact of such measures. The objectives of this article are, first, to understand the importance of commodity production incentivised by the global commodity boom for the overall collection of the national state; second, to analyse which sectors are benefited by the different structures set in place in each country and the power relations that entails; and finally, what are the implications of an intensive agribusiness model for the development paradigm pushed forward by these countries.

Author

• Maria E Giraudo, University of Warwick