Of markets and middlemen: the role of brokers in Ethiopia

Simple item page
cg.coverage.countryEthiopia
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ET
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africa
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionSub-Saharan Africa
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Archive
cg.number39en
cg.placeWashington, DCen
cg.reviewStatusInternal Reviewen
dc.contributor.authorGabre-Madhin, Eleni Zaudeen
dc.date.accessioned2024-11-21T09:54:52Zen
dc.date.available2024-11-21T09:54:52Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/161317
dc.titleOf markets and middlemen: the role of brokers in Ethiopiaen
dcterms.abstractUsing survey data on traders and brokers in the Ethiopian foodgrain market, this paper reveals that the brokerage institution is critical to market performance in that it enables traders to circumvent the commitment problem of long-distance trade with unknown partners. In the absence of grain standardization, public information, and legal contract enforcement, brokers act as inspectors and guarantors of each transaction. The paper analyzes the sources of commitment failure, the role and functions of brokers and the extent of brokerage use by brokers, and argues that agency relations are not based on ethnicity, depend on effective reputation rather than trust, and are structured in an incentive-compatible manner.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationGabre-Madhin, Eleni Zaude. 1999. Of markets and middlemen;the role of brokers in Ethiopia. MTID Discussion Paper 39. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161317en
dcterms.isPartOfMTID Discussion Paperen
dcterms.issued1999
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
dcterms.replaceshttps://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll2/id/125767en
dcterms.subjecttradeen
dcterms.typeWorking Paper

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
125798.pdf
Size:
828.58 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Working Paper
Download

Collections

IFPRI Discussion Papers