Political Economy of U.S. Sugar Policies

This article examines political‐economic decision making with respect to U.S. sugar policies. It evaluates the responsiveness of target prices and import quotas levels to changes in (a) the economic surpluses of market participants and (b) the federal budget deficit. Results indicate a weak linkage between sugar producer surplus and subsequent target prices levels but a strong linkage between the federal budget deficit and subsequent import quota levels. The influences of sugar users, corn sweetener producers, and foreign countries are also examined.