Interregional comparative advantage models in developing agriculture

This paper emphasizes the importance of agronomic and institutional constraints in the formulation of interregional programing models. Two versions of a linear programming model (17 regions and 25 crops) with different objective functions but identical specification, tailored to characteristics of Egyptian agriculture, are constructed. The objective is to test the position taken in earlier studies that in overpopulated less developed countries, the resulting cropping plans would be highly similar, if not identical, whether gross revenue or net revenue is maximised. Significant variations in land allocation patterns, and consequently substantial differences in gains, were found.