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Cargo Preference and U.S. International Food Aid Programs
Author(s) -
Mercier Stephanie,
Smith Vincent
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
applied economic perspectives and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.4
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2040-5804
pISSN - 2040-5790
DOI - 10.1093/aepp/ppz008
Subject(s) - food aid , preference , business , food preference , marketing , economics , food security , geography , agriculture , food science , chemistry , archaeology , microeconomics
The United States is the world's largest donor of humanitarian assistance. However, that aid's effectiveness is hampered by decades‐old rules that restrict where food aid commodities are purchased and how they are transported to recipient countries. This paper evaluates costs associated with one of those restrictions—food aid cargo preference—which requires that at least half of all U.S. food aid shipped in a given year be carried on U.S.‐flagged vessels. The empirical analysis presented in this study, based on individual food aid shipments between January 2012 and May 2015, indicates that cargo preference added $42 million annually to program costs.