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Multilateral Trade Bargaining: A First Look at the GATT Bargaining Records

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  • Kyle Bagwell
  • Robert W. Staiger
  • Ali Yurukoglu

Abstract

This paper empirically examines recently declassified tariff bargaining data from the GATT/WTO. Focusing on the Torquay Round (1950–1951), we document stylized facts about these interconnected high-stakes international negotiations that suggest a lack of strategic behavior among the participating governments and an important multilateral element to the bilateral bargains. We suggest that these features can be understood as emerging from a tariff bargaining forum that emphasizes the GATT pillars of MFN and multilateral reciprocity, and we offer evidence that the relaxation of strict bilateral reciprocity facilitated by the GATT multilateral bargaining forum was important to the success of the GATT approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyle Bagwell & Robert W. Staiger & Ali Yurukoglu, 2020. "Multilateral Trade Bargaining: A First Look at the GATT Bargaining Records," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 72-105, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:72-105
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20170574
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alessandro Nicita & Marcelo Olarreaga & Peri Silva, 2018. "Cooperation in WTO’s Tariff Waters?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(3), pages 1302-1338.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Chad P. Bown & Douglas A. Irwin, 2015. "The GATT's Starting Point: Tariff Levels circa 1947," NBER Working Papers 21782, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bown, Chad & Crowley, Meredith A., 2016. "The Empirical Landscape of Trade Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 11216, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. David P Byrne & Leslie A Martin & Jia Sheen Nah, 2023. "Price Discrimination by Negotiation: a Field Experiment in Retail Electricity," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(4), pages 2499-2537.
    4. Olivier Bochet & Manshu Khanna & Simon Siegenthaler, 2021. "Beyond the Dividing Pie: Multi-Issue Bargaining in the Laboratory," Working Papers 20210070, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Sep 2021.
    5. David P Byrne & Leslie A Martin & Jia Sheen Nah, 2022. "Price Discrimination by Negotiation: a Field Experiment in Retail Electricity [“Redistribution through Markets,”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(4), pages 2499-2537.
    6. Kyle Bagwell & Robert W. Staiger, 2016. "The Design of Trade Agreements," NBER Working Papers 22087, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Bown,Chad P. & Bown,Chad P., 2015. "What?s left for the WTO ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7502, The World Bank.
    8. David P Byrne & Leslie A Martin & Jia Sheen Nah, 2023. "Price Discrimination by Negotiation: a Field Experiment in Retail Electricity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 137(4), pages 2499-2537.
    9. Abe Dunn & Joshua D. Gottlieb & Adam Shapiro & Daniel J. Sonnenstuhl & Pietro Tebaldi, 2021. "A Denial a Day Keeps the Doctor Away," NBER Working Papers 29010, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Matthew Backus & Tom Blake & Steven Tadelis, 2015. "Cheap Talk, Round Numbers, and the Economics of Negotiation," NBER Working Papers 21285, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Jonas Send & Marco Serena, 2021. "An Empirical Analysis of Stubborn Bargaining," Working Papers tax-mpg-rps-2021-05, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.
    12. Kyle Bagwell & Robert W. Staiger, 2018. "Multilateral Trade Bargaining And Dominant Strategies," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1785-1824, November.
    13. Daiqiang Zhang, 2021. "Testing Passive Versus Symmetric Beliefs In Contracting With Externalities," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(2), pages 723-767, May.
    14. Send, Jonas & Serena, Marco, 2022. "An empirical analysis of insistent bargaining," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. Ralph Ossa, 2016. "Quantitative Models of Commercial Policy," NBER Working Papers 22062, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations

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