IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/amerec/v42y1998i1p34-41.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the Second-Best Foreign Investment Policy and Pattern of Commodity Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Fathali Firoozi

Abstract

An agreement on free commodity trade often does not preclude countries from protecting their national interests through restrictive policies toward cross-border movements of production factors (e.g., capital and labor). A number of studies have suggested second-best international capital flows (welfare maximizing under free commodity trade) that officials of a country must encourage via various policy measures. However, an emerging literature indicates that policy toward foreign direct investment is being increasingly utilized as a new form of protectionism under free trade. Utilizing a generalized Heckscher-Ohlin model, this study characterizes the necessary adjustments to the suggested second-best foreign investment policies of a country when there is an extraneous protectionist objective regarding the pattern of trade in a commodity. An implication is that until all production factors can freely move internationally without policy impediments of a participating country, unrestricted commodity trade alone cannot achieve its full potential in removing protectionism and setting comparative advantage as the basis for trade. (JEL F21, F15)

Suggested Citation

  • Fathali Firoozi, 1998. "On the Second-Best Foreign Investment Policy and Pattern of Commodity Trade," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 42(1), pages 34-41, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:amerec:v:42:y:1998:i:1:p:34-41
    DOI: 10.1177/056943459804200103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/056943459804200103
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/056943459804200103?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brecher, Richard A., 1983. "Second-best policy for international trade and investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3-4), pages 313-320, May.
    2. Jones, Ronald W. & Coelho, Isaias & Easton, Stephen T., 1986. "The theory of international factor flows: The basic model," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3-4), pages 313-327, May.
    3. Paul A. Samuelson, 1953. "Prices of Factors and Goods in General Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 21(1), pages 1-20.
    4. Brecher, Richard A & Bhagwati, Jagdish N, 1981. "Foreign Ownership and the Theory of Trade and Welfare," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(3), pages 497-511, June.
    5. G. D. A. MacDougall, 1960. "THE BENEFITS and COSTS OF PRIVATE INVESTMENT FROM ABROAD: A THEORETICAL APPROACH," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 36(73), pages 13-35, March.
    6. Uekawa, Yasuo, 1972. "On the existence of incomplete specialization in international trade with capital mobility," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-23, February.
    7. Bhagwati, Jagdish N. & Brecher, Richard A., 1980. "National welfare in an open economy in the presence of foreign-owned factors of production," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 103-115, February.
    8. Miyagiwa, Kaz F. & Young, Leslie, 1986. "International capital mobility and commercial policy in an economic region," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3-4), pages 329-341, May.
    9. Salvatore,Dominick (ed.), 1993. "Protectionism and World Welfare," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521414555.
    10. Young, Leslie & Romero, Jose, 1990. "International investment and the positive theory of international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 333-349, November.
    11. Ruffin, Roy J., 1984. "International factor movements," Handbook of International Economics, in: R. W. Jones & P. B. Kenen (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 5, pages 237-288, Elsevier.
    12. Raveendra N. Batra, 1973. "Studies in the Pure Theory of International Trade," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-01423-1, September.
    13. Ken-ichi Inada & Murray C. Kemp, 1969. "International Capital Movements and the Theory of Tariffs and Trade: Comment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 83(3), pages 524-528.
    14. Salvatore,Dominick (ed.), 1993. "Protectionism and World Welfare," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521424899.
    15. Ronald W. Jones, 1967. "International Capital Movements and the Theory of Tariffs and Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 81(1), pages 1-38.
    16. Brecher, Richard A. & Feenstra, Robert C., 1983. "International trade and capital mobility between diversified economies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3-4), pages 321-339, May.
    17. Murray C. Kemp, 1962. "Foreign Investment And The National Advantage," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 38(81), pages 56-62, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christis G. Tombazos & Xiaokai Yang & Dingsheng Zhang, 2005. "A Neo‐Heckscher–Ohlin Model of Trade with Endogenous Production Patterns," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(s1), pages 71-81, August.
    2. Springer, Katrin, 2000. "Do We Have to Consider International Capital Mobility in Trade Models?," Kiel Working Papers 964, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Blanchard, Emily J., 2010. "Reevaluating the role of trade agreements: Does investment globalization make the WTO obsolete?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 63-72, September.
    4. Slemrod, Joel & Hansen, Carl & Procter, Roger, 1997. "The seesaw principle in international tax policy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 163-176, August.
    5. Martin Feldstein & David Hartman, 1979. "The Optimal Taxation of Foreign Source Investment Income," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(4), pages 613-629.
    6. John Mutti, 1981. "Regional Analysis from the Standpoint of International Trade: Is it a Useful Perspective?," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 6(2), pages 95-120, August.
    7. Coyle, Barry & Chambers, Robert G. & Schmitz, Andrew, 1986. "Economic Gains from Agricultural Trade: A Review and Bibliography," Miscellaneous Publications 319990, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Yong Yang, 1998. "International Taxation When Domestic Distributional Policy is Constrained," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 75-93.
    9. Michael J. Hiscox, 2004. "International Capital Mobility And Trade Politics: Capital Flows, Political Coalitions, And Lobbying," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 253-285, November.
    10. Leiner, Nadine & Meckl, Jürgen, 1994. "Internationale Migration und Einkommensverteilung: Eine außenhandelstheoretische Analyse," Discussion Papers, Series II 217, University of Konstanz, Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 178 "Internationalization of the Economy".
    11. Hajime Takatsuka & Dao‐Zhi Zeng, 2022. "Mobile capital, optimal tariff, and tariff war," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 166-204, February.
    12. Srinivasan, T.N., 1986. "International Trade and Factor Movements in Development Theory, Policy, and Experience," 1986: Trade and Development Meeting, December 1986, CIMMYT, Mexico City, Mexico 50651, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    13. Reis, Ana Balcao, 2006. "Welfare, taxes and foreign investment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1045-1061, June.
    14. Christopher C. Findlay, 1986. "Optimal Taxation of International Income Flows," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 62(2), pages 208-214, June.
    15. John Dutton, 1986. "Optimal Taxes on Foreign Investment in an Overlapping Generation Model," Public Finance Review, , vol. 14(3), pages 289-311, July.
    16. Ngo Van Long, 1973. "On a Paradox in the Theory of International Capital Movements," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 49(3), pages 440-446, September.
    17. Choi, E. Kwan, 2008. "Factor growth and equalized factor prices," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 517-528, October.
    18. Andrzej Cieślik, 2020. "What attracts multinational enterprises from the new EU member states to Poland?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(2), pages 253-269, June.
    19. Oatley Thomas, 2010. "Real Exchange Rates and Trade Protectionism," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, August.
    20. Michihiro Ohyama, 1978. "Reconsideration of Some Paradoxes in the Theory of Optimal Foreign Investment," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 54(3), pages 346-353, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:amerec:v:42:y:1998:i:1:p:34-41. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/aex .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.