IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/3347.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

On Uniform Import Tariffs in Developing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Sebastian Edwards

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically assess, from a welfare perspective, the desirability of uniform import tariffs. Since the eruption of the debt crisis, many proposals for structural reforms in the developing countries have contemplated a trade liberalization process that would create a low and uniform tariff structure. In this paper I review the literature on the subject and construct a general equilibrium model to evaluate the consequences of alternative structural adjustment policies. Throughout the analysis it is assumed that labor markets and nontradables markets are subject to some distortions.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Edwards, 1990. "On Uniform Import Tariffs in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 3347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:3347
    Note: ITI IFM
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w3347.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. V. K. Ramaswami & T. N. Srinivasan, 1968. "Optimal Subsidies and Taxes When Some Factors Are Traded," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(4), pages 569-569.
    2. Jones, Ronald W. & Peter Neary, J., 1984. "The positive theory of international trade," Handbook of International Economics, in: R. W. Jones & P. B. Kenen (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 1-62, Elsevier.
    3. Tatsuo Hatta, 1977. "A Theory of Piecemeal Policy Recommendations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 44(1), pages 1-21.
    4. Edwards, Sebastian, 1988. "Terms of Trade, Tariffs, and Labor Market Adjustment in Developing Countries," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 2(2), pages 165-185, May.
    5. Peter A. Diamond & J. A. Mirrlees, 1968. "Optimal Taxation and Public Production," Working papers 22, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    6. Arvind Panagariya, 1983. "Import Objective, Distortions, and Optimal Tax Structure: A Generalization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(3), pages 515-524.
    7. R. G. Lipsey & Kelvin Lancaster, 1956. "The General Theory of Second Best," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 24(1), pages 11-32.
    8. Edwards, Sebastian & van Wijnbergen, Sweder, 1986. "The Welfare Effects of Trade and Capital Market Liberalization," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 27(1), pages 141-148, February.
    9. J. Peter Neary, 1985. "International Factor Mobility, Minimum Wage Rates, and Factor-Price Equalization: A Synthesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(3), pages 551-570.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Osang, Thomas & Pereira, Alfredo, 1996. "Import tariffs and growth in a small open economy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 45-71, April.

    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. Panagariya, Arvind, 1990. "How should tariffs be structured?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 353, The World Bank.
    2. Svensson, Lars E.O., 1984. "Factor trade and goods trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3-4), pages 365-378, May.
    3. Sebastian Edwards, 1987. "Economics Liberalization and the Equilibrium Real Exchange Rate in Developing Countries," UCLA Economics Working Papers 433, UCLA Department of Economics.
    4. James E. Anderson & Arja Turunen-Red, 1999. "Trade Reform with a Government Budget Constraint," International Economic Association Series, in: John Piggott & Alan Woodland (ed.), International Trade Policy and the Pacific Rim, chapter 9, pages 217-244, Palgrave Macmillan.
    5. Pertti Haaparanta & Juha Kähkönen, 1986. "Liberalization of Capital Movements and Trade: Real Appreciation, Employment and Welfare," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-1986-005, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Bernard Hoekman & Douglas Nelson, 2020. "Rethinking international subsidy rules," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), pages 3104-3132, December.
    7. James E. Anderson, 2002. "Trade Reform Diagnostics with Many Households, Quotas, and Tariffs," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(2), pages 215-236, May.
    8. Will Martin & James E. Anderson, 2005. "Costs of Taxation and the Benefits of Public Goods: The Role of Income Effects," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 617, Boston College Department of Economics.
    9. Nelson, Douglas & Puccio, Laura, 2021. "Nihil novi sub sole: The Need for Rethinking WTO and Green Subsidies in Light of United States – Renewable Energy," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 491-508, October.
    10. Anderson, James E & Bannister, Geoffrey J & Neary, J Peter, 1995. "Domestic Distortions and International Trade," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 36(1), pages 139-157, February.
    11. Bijit Bora & Peter J. Lloyd & Mari Pangestu, 2000. "Industrial Policy And The Wto," UNCTAD Blue Series Papers 6, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    12. Hatta, Tatsuo & Haltiwanger, John, 1986. "Tax Reform and Strong Substitutes," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 27(2), pages 303-315, June.
    13. Alan Krause, 2004. "The Dynamic Process of Tax Reform," Econometric Society 2004 Australasian Meetings 119, Econometric Society.
    14. Daniele Checchi, 1992. "What are the Real Effects of Liberalizing International Capital Movements?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 83-125, February.
    15. Anderson, James E., 1997. "Revenue Neutral Trade Reform with Many Households, Quotas and Tariffs," Seminar Papers 626, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    16. Anil Lal, 2001. "Goods and factors liberalization under increasing returns to scale," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 115-131.
    17. Bouët, Antoine & Laborde, David & Traore, Fousseini, 2021. "On the optimality of Common External Tariffs in Africa: Evidence from the EAC Customs Union," Conference papers 330214, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    18. J. Neary, 2006. "International Trade and the Environment: Theoretical and Policy Linkages," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 33(1), pages 95-118, January.
    19. Sebastian Edwards & Alejandra Cox Edwards, 1990. "Labor Market Distortions and Structural Adjustments in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 3346, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Sebastian Edwards, 1987. "Tariffs, Terms or Trade, and The Real Exchange Rate in and Intertemporal Optimizing Model of the Current Account," UCLA Economics Working Papers 429, UCLA Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    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:nbr:nberwo:3347. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    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.