Economics of Planning 32: 103–127, 1999. © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 103 Exploring the Impact of Agricultural Price and Trade Policy Reform under Transition in Albania GEORGE MERGOS 1,⋆ , PAVLOS KARADELOGLOU 2 and CHRYSOSTOMOS STOFOROS 1 1 University of Athens, Department of Economics, 8 Pesmazoglou Street, 10559 Athens, Greece and 2 Bank of Greece, Economic Research Department, Athens, Greece Received 16 May 1997; Accepted in revised form 25 May 1998 Abstract. Agricultural policy decision making in economies undergoing transition to market is in need of empirical tools for assessing the impact of alternative policy options. The econometric means available for such exercise, however, are limited for lack of data and structural breaks in economic behaviour. Synthetic, partial equilibrium, multi-market models offer a potential alternative. Such models have been used extensively, even in advanced economies, to offer valuable insights on the impact of alternative policy options. This paper shows the use of such a partial equilibrium, multi- market, synthetic-type model as a tool for agricultural policy analysis in a country in transition. The model is applied for Albania, a predominantly agricultural country that, after a period of centralism and autarky, aims to re-join the international economic system. The model, albeit its many limita- tions, offers some useful insights on the impact of alternative options available for agricultural price and trade policy. Key words: transition economies, Albania, agricultural policy analysis 1. Introduction The re-integration of the transition economies in the international economic sys- tem is, perhaps, the greatest challenge faced in this decade (Bosworth and Ofer, 1995, Siebert, 1997). Agricultural price and trade policies represent an area where there are strong government interventions, albeit not only in transition econonmies. Agricultural price policies followed by most governments in transition economies, including Albania, over the period since the beginning of transition in 1990, have been generally detrimental to agricultural growth and integration to the interna- tional economic system. Although original reform plans in most countries included a comprehensive price liberalisation programme as one of their main elements, countries have followed in practice extensive interventionist agricultural price poli- cies. Interventions in the agricultural price system have wider and far-reaching implications not only on agricultural output, but also by delaying the pace of reform, slowing economic growth and adversely affecting transition. Exploring, ⋆ Corresponding author (E-mail: mergos@compulink.gr)