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Does Bilateralism Promote Trade? Nineteenth Century Liberalization Revisited

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Author Info
Accominotti, Olivier
Flandreau, Marc

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Abstract

Textbook accounts of the Anglo-French trade agreement of 1860 argue that it heralded the beginning of a liberal trading order. This alleged success has much interest from a policy point of view: unlike modern GATT/WTO multilateral agreements, it rested on bilateral negotiations. But, in reality, how great were its effects? With the help of new data on international trade we provide empirical evidence. We find that the Anglo-French treaty and subsequent network of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trade agreements coincided with the end of a period of unilateral liberalization across the world, and that it did not contribute to expand trade at all. This is contrary to a deeply rooted belief among economists and economic historians. We conclude that, contrary to a popular wisdom, bilateralism did not promote trade in the 19th century.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 5423.

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Date of creation: Dec 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5423

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Related research
Keywords: Anglo-French treaty; bilateralism; liberalization; MFN; multilateralism; trade policy;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Irwin, Douglas A, 1995. "The GATT in Historical Perspective," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 323-28, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Irwin, Douglas A., 2003. "New Estimates of the Average Tariff of the United States, 1790 1820," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 63(02), pages 506-513, June. [Downloadable!]
  3. Flandreau, Marc, 2000. "The economics and politics of monetary unions: a reassessment of the Latin Monetary Union, 1865 71," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(01), pages 25-44, April. [Downloadable!]
  4. Irwin, Douglas A., 1993. "Free Trade and Protection in Nineteenth-Century Britain and France Revisited: A Comment on Nye," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(01), pages 146-152, March. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Irwin, Douglas A, 1988. "Welfare Effects of British Free Trade: Debate and Evidence from the 1840s," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(6), pages 1142-64, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1990. "The impact of the Corn Laws just prior to repeal," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 123-156, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  9. Andrew K. Rose, 2004. "Do We Really Know That the WTO Increases Trade?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 98-114, March. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Kevin H. O'Rourke & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2001. "Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262650592.
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  12. Doulgas A. Irwin, 2003. "New Estimates of the Average Tariff of the United States, 1790-1820," NBER Working Papers 9616, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Dr. Peter Kenning & Hilke Plassmann, 2004. "NeuroEconomics," Experimental 0412005, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
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  1. Kevin H. O'Rourke & Leandro Prados de la Escosura & Guillaume Daudin, 2008. "Trade and Empire, 1700-1870," Working Papers in Economic History wp08-09, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Historia Económica e Instituciones. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Paul Sharp, 2006. "1846 and All That: The Rise and Fall of British Wheat Protection in the Nineteenth Century," Discussion Papers 06-14, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Kris James Mitchener & Marc Weidenmier, 2008. "Trade and Empire," NBER Working Papers 13765, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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