Relationship of Cigarette Companies, Middlemen and Tobacco Farmers: Core-Periphery Analysis

This article aims to examine the pattern of relationships that occur between cigarette companies, middlemen and tobacco farmers in the context of the political economy. General facts show that the price aspect is the point where tobacco farmers are structurally dependent on companies and middlemen. This pattern is examined in detail with the construction of the core-periphery principle in political economy. Descriptive approach is supported by literature study and analyzed with content analysis approach. The results obtained are, firstly, the scheme of dependency patterns between companies, middlemen and farmers. Secondly, the government policy in the breaking the chain of structural dependency is investigated. Underlying on these results, this article proposes optimal ways to control the structural linkage between companies, middlemen and tobacco farmers.