IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/741.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

When does rent-seeking augment the benefits of price and trade reform on rationed commodities? : estimates for automobiles and color televisions in Poland

Author

Listed:
  • Tarr, David

Abstract

To assess the impact of price and trade reform on the Polish market for autos and color televisions, the author has developed a differentiated product model in which consumers maximize utility and firms maximize profits subject to rationing constraints and price controls. This paper focuses on that model. First it discusses the institutional details of the auto and color TV markets in Poland. It then lays out the stylized facts that are incorporated in the model, and discusses the methods of allocating autos and color TVs in the context of the rent-seeking and rent dissipation literature. The final section summarizes the results which find that, all things being equal, the elimination of price controls for both autos and televisions had the effect of decreasing imports, as more domestic autos were produced and sold. The implication is that -- contrary to the Polish government's intention -- price controls were a trade distortion that increased imports: that is, they implicitly subsidized imports. The author also shows that import liberalization produces greater benefits when there are domestic price controls with rent dissipation, because import liberalization reduces the rent. The appendices include a description of the model, a discussion of the data sources, and a review of the literature on rent-seeking activities as it relates to rent dissipation under price controls.

Suggested Citation

  • Tarr, David, 1991. "When does rent-seeking augment the benefits of price and trade reform on rationed commodities? : estimates for automobiles and color televisions in Poland," Policy Research Working Paper Series 741, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:741
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/1991/08/01/000009265_3961001221602/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Charemza, Wojciech & Gronicki, Miroslaw & Quandt, Richard E., 1988. "Modelling parallel markets in centrally planned economies : The case of the automobile market in Poland," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 861-883, April.
    2. Bhagwati, Jagdish N., 1980. "Lobbying and welfare," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 355-363, December.
    3. Krueger, Anne O, 1974. "The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(3), pages 291-303, June.
    4. McCormick, Robert E & Shughart, William F, II & Tollison, Robert D, 1984. "The Disinterest in Deregulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(5), pages 1075-1079, December.
    5. Neary, J. P. & Roberts, K. W. S., 1980. "The theory of household behaviour under rationing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 25-42, January.
    6. David Tarr, 2014. "Second-Best Foreign Exchange Policy in the Presence of Domestic Price Controls and Export Subsidies," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: APPLIED TRADE POLICY MODELING IN 16 COUNTRIES Insights and Impacts from World Bank CGE Based Projects, chapter 4, pages 75-93, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Lindsay, Cotton M & Feigenbaum, Bernard, 1984. "Rationing by Waiting Lists," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 404-417, June.
    8. David Tarr, 2017. "Quantifying Second Best Effects in Grossly Distorted Markets: The Case of the Butter Market in Poland," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Trade Policies for Development and Transition, chapter 10, pages 225-239, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Hillman, Arye L & Katz, Eliakim, 1984. "Risk-Averse Rent Seekers and the Social Cost of Monopoly Power," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 94(373), pages 104-110, March.
    10. Mr. Elias Dinopoulos & Mr. Timothy D. Lane, 1991. "Fiscal Constraintson Market-Oriented Reform in a Socialist Economy," IMF Working Papers 1991/075, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Robert D. Tollison, 1982. "Rent Seeking: A Survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 575-602, November.
    12. Tullock, G., 1981. "Lobbying and welfare: a comment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 391-394, December.
    13. Bhagwati, Jagdish N & Srinivasan, T N, 1980. "Revenue Seeking: A Generalization of the Theory of Tariffs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(6), pages 1069-1087, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Eliakim Katz & J. Smith, 1988. "Rent-seeking and optimal regulation in replenishable resource industries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 25-36, October.
    2. Michael A. Brooks & Ben J. Heudra, 1989. "An Exploration of Rent Seeking," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 65(1), pages 32-50, March.
    3. Arye L. Hillman & John G. Riley, 1989. "Politically Contestable Rents And Transfers," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 17-39, March.
    4. Elie Appelbaum & Eliakim Katz, 1986. "Transfer seeking and avoidance: On the full social costs of rent seeking," Springer Books, in: Roger D. Congleton & Arye L. Hillman & Kai A. Konrad (ed.), 40 Years of Research on Rent Seeking 1, pages 391-397, Springer.
    5. Mahmudul Anam & Eliakim Katz, 1988. "Rent-seeking and second best economics," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 215-224, December.
    6. Tyler Cowen & Amihai Glazer & Henry McMillan, 1994. "Rent Seeking Can Promote The Provision Of Public Goods," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 131-145, July.
    7. Gael Lagadec, 2014. "Are political support-driven policies always bad? The case of large interest groups," European Journal of Government and Economics, Europa Grande, vol. 3(2), pages 138-147, December.
    8. Arye Hillman & Dov Samet, 1987. "Dissipation of contestable rents by small numbers of contenders," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 63-82, January.
    9. Kamath Shyam J., 1994. "Privatization: A Market Prospect Perspective," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-52, March.
    10. James Lake & Maia Linask, 2015. "Costly distribution and the non-equivalence of tariffs and quotas," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 211-238, December.
    11. Douglas Davis & Robert Reilly, 1998. "Do too many cooks always spoil the stew? An experimental analysis of rent-seeking and the role of a strategic buyer," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 89-115, April.
    12. Eaton, Jonathan, 1989. "Monopoly Wealth and International Debt," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 30(1), pages 33-48, February.
    13. Jay S. Coggins, 1995. "Rent Dissipation And The Social Cost Of Price Policy," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(2), pages 147-166, July.
    14. Coggins, Jay S., 1992. "Rent Dissipation and the Social Cost of Price Policy," Staff Papers 200551, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    15. Aidt, Toke S. & Hillman, Arye L., 2008. "Enduring rents," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 545-553, September.
    16. Serrao, Amilcar, 2002. "Influence of Political Campaign Contributions by American Agribusiness Firms on U.S. Farm Policy," 2002 International Congress, August 28-31, 2002, Zaragoza, Spain 24855, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Robert E. Baldwin, 1986. "Rent-Seeking and Trade Policy: An Industry Approach," International Economic Association Series, in: Bela Balassa & Herbert Giersch (ed.), Economic Incentives, chapter 16, pages 429-453, Palgrave Macmillan.
    18. Kinsey, Jean D. & Ndayisenga, Fidele, 1999. "The Impact Of Political Contributions By Food Manufacturing Firms On U.S. Farm Policy," Journal of Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics Association of Georgia, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15.
    19. Yu-Fu Chen & I-Hui Cheng, 2003. "Lobbying for Protection under Uncertainty: A Real Option Approach," Dundee Discussion Papers in Economics 155, Economic Studies, University of Dundee.
    20. K.P. Kannan & N. Vijayamohanan Pillai, 2001. "The political economy of public utilities: A study of the power sector," Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum Working Papers 316, Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum, India.

    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:wbk:wbrwps:741. 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: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.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.