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Trade Reform with a Government Budget Constraint

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  • James E. Anderson

Abstract

The standard theory of trade reform uses a passive government budget constraint, in which changes in tariff revenue are offset by changes in lump sum transfers. This paper offers a general framework for the analysis of trade reform when the government budget constraint is active, meaning that tariff revenue cuts must be offset by distortionary fiscal policy changes --- public good supply cuts or alternative tax increases. Useful and simple new expressions characterizing welfare improving trade reform compare the Marginal Cost of Funds (MCF) of trade taxes with the MCF of consumption taxes. The MCF expressions provide an intuitive index number which is operational with Computable General Equilibrium models. The theoretical analysis and an application to Korean data in 1963 both cast doubt on the desirability of tariff cuts in convex competitive economies with active government budget constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • James E. Anderson, 1996. "Trade Reform with a Government Budget Constraint," NBER Working Papers 5827, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5827
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    1. Anderson, James E & Neary, J Peter, 1992. "Trade Reform with Quotas, Partial Rent Retention, and Tariffs," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(1), pages 57-76, January.
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    14. Lloyd, P. J., 1974. "A more general theory of price distortions in open economies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 365-386, November.
    15. James E. Anderson & Will Martin, 1996. "The Welfare Analysis of Fiscal Policy: A Simple Unified Account," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 316., Boston College Department of Economics.
    16. Lopez, Ramon & Panagariya, Arvind, 1992. "On the Theory of Piecemeal Tariff Reform: The Case of Pure Imported Intermediate Inputs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 615-625, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anderson, James E., 1997. "Revenue Neutral Trade Reform with Many Households, Quotas and Tariffs," Seminar Papers 626, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    2. San Vicente Portes, Luis, 2009. "On the distributional effects of trade policy: Dynamics of household saving and asset prices," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 944-970, August.
    3. 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.
    4. J. Peter Neary, 1998. "Pitfalls in the Theory of International Trade Policy: Concertina Reforms of Tariffs, and Subsidies to High‐Technology Industries," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(1), pages 187-206, March.
    5. Michael Keen, 2007. "VAT attacks!," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 14(4), pages 365-381, August.
    6. Buettner, Thiess & Madzharova, Boryana, 2018. "WTO membership and the shift to consumption taxes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 197-218.
    7. M. Shahe Emran & Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2004. "Price-neutral Tax Reform With an Informal Economy," Public Economics 0407010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Emran, M. Shahe & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2005. "On selective indirect tax reform in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 599-623, April.
    9. Anderson, James E. & Martin, Will, 1998. "Evaluating public expenditures when governments must rely on distortionary taxation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1981, The World Bank.
    10. Rajaraman, Indira, 2004. "Fiscal developments and outlook in India," Working Papers 04/15, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    11. Keen, Michael, 2008. "VAT, tariffs, and withholding: Border taxes and informality in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(10-11), pages 1892-1906, October.
    12. repec:npf:wpaper:15 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Emran, M. Shahe, 2005. "Revenue-increasing and welfare-enhancing reform of taxes on exports," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 277-292, June.
    14. Chang, Yang-Ming & Sargsyan, Ruben, 2022. "Revenue-neutral or profit-neutral tariff and tax reforms under imperfect competition: Welfare implications," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1-11.
    15. repec:ind:nipfwp:15 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Can Erbil, 2004. "Trade Taxes Are Expensive," International Trade 0409002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Kubota, Keiko, 2000. "Fiscal constraints, collection costs, and trade policies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2366, The World Bank.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations

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