Abstract
What happens when a government tries to substitute its own decisions for those of the market place in determining who shall consume what quantities of a commodity?
The Indian Government's fertilizer-consumption goals deviated substantially from previously existing market patterns. The Government was partly successful in changing consumption patterns by allocating fertilizer supplies to specified crops and regions in keeping with its planned targets. Some difficulties were encountered, largely because the method Government used to set its allotment quotas differed from those that actually determined the amounts taken by wholesale and retail distributors.
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