Skip to main content

Empirical Studies of Commercial Policy

The need for careful research on trade policy is particularly acute, and this volume empirically addresses these and many other important issues. The contributors offer studies which integrate the institutional details of current trade policy with creative economic analyses.

Marked by a shift from a traditional reliance on simulation models, these papers take their inspiration from recent changes in the assumptions traditionally underlying research in international trade theory. No longer are government policies viewed as being somehow "given" to the researcher; in part 1, "Analyses with a Political Economy Perspective," four papers treat such policies as endogenous and explicable in terms of political economy. Neither are product and factor markets seen as perfectly competitive; instead, the three papers in part 2, "Trade Policy Effects under Imperfectly Competitive Market Conditions," assume that firms consider the actions of other companies when formulating their decisions. In part 3, "A New Measure of Trade Restrictiveness and Estimates of Trade Policy Effects with CGE Models," the first essay explores the quantitative restrictions on cheese to develop and implement a new model of restrictive trade. Two final contributions address problems for which simulation modeling is especially useful. The first considers the effectiveness of an import surcharge in reducing the U.S. trade deficit and the second treats the welfare effects of liberalization in South Korea where increasing returns to scale are significant

These innovative studies focus on economic behavior that will provide valuable insights for policymakers, academic economists, and students.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction by Robert E. Baldwin
I. Analyses With a Political Economy Perspective
1. Rule Versus Discretion in Trade Policy: An Empirical Analysis
Robert W. Staiger and Guido Tabellini
Comment: Richard H. Clarida
Comment: Michael O. Moore
2. The Selection of Antidumping Cases for ITC Determination
Thomas J. Prusa
Comment: Robert M. Stern
3. The Determinants of Corporate Political Involvement in Trade Protection: The Case of the Steel Industry
Stefanie Ann Lenway and Douglas A. Schuler
Comment: Timothy J. McKeown
Comment: Wendy E. Takacs
4. The U.S. VER on Machine Tools: Causes and Effects
Elias Dinopoulos and Mordechai E. Kreinin
Comment: Kala Krishna
Comment: Thomas O. Bayard
II. Trade Policy Effects under Imperfectly Competitive Market Conditions
5. Characteristics of Japanese Industrial Groups and their Potential Impact on U.S.-Japanese Trade
K. C. Fung
Comment: Robert Z. Lawrence
6. Size Rationalization and Trade Exposure in Developing Countries
Mark J. Roberts and James R. Tybout
Comment: Robert E. Lipsey
Comment: Peter A. Petri
7. Estimating the Effect of Quantitative Restrictions in Imperfectly Competitive Markets: The Footwear Case
Bee-Yan Aw
Comment: Keith E. Maskus
Comment: J. David Richardson
III. A New Measure of Trade Restrictiveness and Estimates of Trade Policy Effects with CGE Models
8. The Coefficient of Trade Utilization: The Cheese Case
James E. Anderson
Comment: Satya P. Das
9. The Impact of Permanent and Temporary Import Surcharges on the U.S. Trade Deficit
Barry Eichengreen and Lawrence H. Goulder
Comment: David G. Tarr
Comment; Drusilla K. Brown
10. Industrial Organization and Trade Liberalization: Evidence from Korea
Jaime de Melo and David Roland-Holst
Comment: Dani Rodrik
Comment: Marie Thursby
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press