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Free Trade Areas with Politically Active Oligopolies

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Author Info
Emanuel Ornelas (University of Wisconsin)

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Abstract

I evaluate in this paper the effects of Free-Trade Areas (FTAs) on the incentives for further multilateral liberalization (ML) using a model that emphasizes the role of oligopolistic industries in creating both reasons for strategic trade policies and political pressures aimed to affect trade policy decisions. In this context, I find that FTAs are in general unable to undermine an otherwise feasible ML process. The primary reason regards an identified "tariff complementarity effect," which indicates that a FTA induces its members to reduce their remaining tariffs. This effect reflects mainly the reduction of the strategic reasons from protection under a FTA, and ensures a move toward "trade creation." The introduction of political pressures may revert that result. Nevertheless, this would happen only in the presence of coordination failures between the national oligopolies, and even in that case such undermining would be unlikely to occur.

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Paper provided by Econometric Society in its series Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers with number 1457.

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Date of creation: 01 Aug 2000
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Handle: RePEc:ecm:wc2000:1457

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  1. Bagwell, Kyle & Staiger, Robert W., 1997. "Multilateral tariff cooperation during the formation of customs unions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 91-123, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Trefler, Daniel, 1993. "International Factor Price Differences: Leontief Was Right!," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(6), pages 961-87, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Cadot, O. & De Melo, J. & Olarreaga, M., 1996. "Regional Integration and Lobbying for Tariffs Against Non-Members," University of Geneva Economics Working Papers 96.07, University of Geneva, Department of Political Economy.
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  4. Raymond Riezman, 1999. "Can Bilateral Trade Agreements Help Induce Free Trade," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(3), pages 751-766, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1994. "Protection for Sale," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 833-50, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Dixit, Avinash K, 1986. "Comparative Statics for Oligopoly," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 27(1), pages 107-22, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Sang-Seung, Yi, 1996. "Endogenous formation of customs unions under imperfect competition: open regionalism is good," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1-2), pages 153-177, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Brander, James A., 1995. "Strategic trade policy," Handbook of International Economics, in: G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1395-1455 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Wilfred J. Ethier, 1998. "Regionalism in a Multilateral World," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1214-1245, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Richardson, Martin, 1993. "Endogenous protection and trade diversion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 309-324, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Fernandez, Raquel & Portes, Jonathan, 1998. "Returns to Regionalism: An Analysis of Nontraditional Gains from Regional Trade Agreements," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 197-220, May.
  12. Panagariya, Arvind & Findlay, Ronald & DEC, 1994. "A political - economy analysis of free trade areas and customs unions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1261, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  13. Paul Krugman, 1989. "Is Bilateralism Bad?," NBER Working Papers 2972, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Pravin Krishna, 1998. "Regionalism And Multilateralism: A Political Economy Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(1), pages 227-250, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Baldwin, Richard, 1987. "Politically realistic objective functions and trade policy PROFs and tariffs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 287-290. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Giovanni Maggi & Andres Rodriguez-Clare, 1998. "The Value of Trade Agreements in the Presence of Political Pressures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(3), pages 574-601, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Robert W. Staiger, 1994. "A Theory of Gradual Trade Liberalization," NBER Working Papers 4620, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Levy, Philip I, 1997. "A Political-Economic Analysis of Free-Trade Agreements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 506-19, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Anderson, Kym & Norheim, Hege, 1993. "Is World Trade Becoming More Regionalized?," Review of International Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 1(2), pages 91-109, June.
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  1. Sabates, Robert & Gould, Brian W., 2001. "Characteristics of Food Expenditures in Argentina: Implications for the U.S. Dairy Industry," Discussion Papers 37657, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Babcock Institute for International Dairy Research and Development. [Downloadable!]
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