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The Last Free Traders? Interwar Trade Policy in the Netherlands and Netherlands East Indies

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  • Pim de Zwart
  • Markus Lampe
  • Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke

Abstract

There has still been too little detailed work on the protectionism that emerged in the wake of the Great Depression. In this paper we explore the experiences of two countries that have been largely neglected in the literature, the Netherlands and Netherlands East Indies (NEI). How did these traditionally free-trading economies respond to the Depression? We construct a detailed product-level database of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade based on primary sources. While ad valorem tariff increases in the Netherlands were largely due to deflation, the country protected agriculture and textiles in a number of ways. The NEI quota system was largely geared to protecting Dutch exporters, but the reverse was not true: Dutch trade policies benefited the metropole more than its largest colony.
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Suggested Citation

  • Pim de Zwart & Markus Lampe & Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke, 2023. "The Last Free Traders? Interwar Trade Policy in the Netherlands and Netherlands East Indies," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _206, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_206
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eichengreen, Barry & Irwin, Douglas A., 2010. "The Slide to Protectionism in the Great Depression: Who Succumbed and Why?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 871-897, December.
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    3. de Zwart, Pim & Gallardo-Albarrán, Daniel & Rijpma, Auke, 2022. "The Demographic Effects of Colonialism: Forced Labor and Mortality in Java, 1834–1879," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(1), pages 211-249, March.
    4. D. H. Robertson, 1938. "Changes in International Demand and the Terms of Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 52(3), pages 539-540.
    5. Crucini, Mario J, 1994. "Sources of Variation in Real Tariff Rates: The United States, 1900-1940," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 732-743, June.
    6. Vellore Arthi & Markus Lampe & Ashwin Nair & Kevin Hjortshøj, 2023. "Deliberate Surrender? The Impact of Interwar Indian Protection," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(657), pages 23-47.
    7. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Introduction to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
    8. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Preface to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N74 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N75 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Asia including Middle East
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F54 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Colonialism; Imperialism; Postcolonialism

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