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Agricultural Comparative Advantage andLegislators' Support for Trade Agreements

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  • Giorgio Chiovelli
  • Francesco Amodio
  • Leonardo Baccini
  • Michele Di Maio

Abstract

Does comparative advantage explain legislators' support for trade liberalization? We use data onpotential crop yields as determined by weather and soil characteristics to derive a new, plausiblyexogenous measure of comparative advantage in agriculture for each district in the US. Evidenceshows that comparative advantage in agriculture predicts how legislators vote on the ratificationof preferential trade agreements in Congress. We show that legislators in districts with highagricultural comparative advantage are more likely to mention that trade agreements are goodfor agriculture in House floor debates preceding roll-call votes on their ratifications. Individualsliving in the same districts are also more likely to support free trade. Our analysis and resultscontribute to the literature on the political economy of trade and its distributional consequences,and to our understanding of the economic determinants of legislators voting decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Giorgio Chiovelli & Francesco Amodio & Leonardo Baccini & Michele Di Maio, 2020. "Agricultural Comparative Advantage andLegislators' Support for Trade Agreements," Documentos de Trabajo/Working Papers 2002, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economia. Universidad de Montevideo..
    • Handle: RePEc:mnt:wpaper:2002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trade; Agricultural; Political Economy; Trade Agreements;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade

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