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The unavailing origin of Australian protectionism? Victoria's McCulloch Tariff of 1866

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  • Brian D. Varian

Abstract

Economic historians have identified Victoria's McCulloch Tariff of 1866 as the genesis of Australian protection of manufacturing—a trade-policy regime that was to persist until the latetwentieth century. The McCulloch Tariff imposed 10 per cent duties on a range of manufactured imports; this range was further extended by the closely following Customs Act of 1867. Victoria's pathbreaking protectionist legislation of 1866–7 has, until now, escaped any direct cliometric assessment of its consequences. This paper relies on what little industryspecific data are available for Victoria in this period: annual data on the number of manufactories in operation in the years preceding and following the policy change. Following a difference-in-differences approach, this study finds no statistically significant association between the imposition of the 10 per cent duties and the number of manufactories. This finding is irrespective of changes in the regression sample, definition of an untreated industry, and estimation method used. The McCulloch Tariff is better remembered for the trajectory on which it placed Victorian economic policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian D. Varian, 2024. "The unavailing origin of Australian protectionism? Victoria's McCulloch Tariff of 1866," CEH Discussion Papers 08, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:hpaper:124
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    File URL: https://cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEH/WP202408.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Brian D. Varian, 2025. "Effective Rates of Protection in an Industrialising, Settler Economy: Estimates for Victoria (Australia) in 1880," CEH Discussion Papers 02, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.

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    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • N67 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - Africa; Oceania
    • N77 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Africa; Oceania

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