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# Agricultural Market Access Cost Structure

## Definition

The combination of transportation costs, trade barriers, taxes, and institutional restrictions that determine the expense of getting agricultural products to market, which Smith argues created prohibitive barriers to trade in medieval Europe and prevented efficient agricultural specialization.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 2

## Context

Smith shows how the high costs of market access under medieval institutions prevented farmers from reaching profitable markets, arguing that only when these costs were reduced through improved transportation and legal reform could agricultural regions fully exploit their comparative advantages.

## Economic Domain

Exchange

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