Abstract:
This paper analyzes the relationship between international soybean prices and
economic growth; and poverty in Argentina and Brazil, with an emphasis on the period
after 2003. It analyzes the beginning of soybean activity in both countries, showing the
importance of international prices and macroeconomic policies in the evolution of the
two industries, as well as the prominence of soy as an export commodity during the
1990s. It highlights the importance of soybeans and presented the structure of the
soybean value chain in both countries. We then move to analyze soybean prices and
their relation to growth, including how changes in international soybean prices were
transmitted to producer prices, and the relationship between prices and poverty
reduction both in Argentina and Brazil. Policy implications are then analized as a
conclusion of the paper.
