This paper provides an empirical assessment of race-to-the-bottom unilateralism. It suggests that decades of unilateral tariff cutting in Asia‟s emerging economies have been driven by a competition to attract FDI from Japan. Using spatial econometrics, I show that tariffs on parts and components, a crucial locational determinant for Japanese firms, converged across countries following a contagion pattern. Tariffs followed those of competing countries if the latter were lower, if FDI jealousy was high, and when competing countries were at a similar level of development.
Geographical Indications (GIs) for products (Basmati rice, Champagne sparkling wine, Antigua coffee, etc.) were regulated at the international level in 1995 (WTO TRIPS Agreement, Part II, Section 3). This paper proposes a model on the welfare effects of the socalled “claw-back” of GIs; i.e. the protection in a country (Home) of a GI of another country (Foreign), when the said GI had previously acquired generic status at Home (cf.: protection of Feta in the EU or of Champagne in Chile). The setting includes two countries (Home and Foreign); three varieties (Foreign GI-original goods, Home GI-variety goods and generics) and a continuum of heterogeneous consumers. Two regimes are analyzed: protection / no protection; in two scenarios for Foreign firms: perfect / oligopolistic competition. Only the equilibrium at Home is analyzed. Although a loss in global welfare is always expected when fewer varieties are available in a market, results suggest that industrialized Home countries, with sophisticated consumers and higher relative costs tend to lose less from protecting Foreign GIs than developing Home countries, where the opposite is true. With oligopolistic competition, GI firms become from differentiated from their closest competitor after protection (now generics), further stressing the competitive distortion; consumers with a low willingness to pay for origin and a high degree of valuation for the GI-variety are the biggest losers. Regarding firms, however, contrary to the conventional wisdom, oligopolistic competition by Foreign firms leads to less stringent conditions for Home GI-varieties to compete, and does not affect generics. In effect, if after protection Home GI-varieties can successfully differentiate themselves from Foreign GI-original goods without the (unlawful) use of the GI label (either through the development of their own GI or through proper branding) and stay competitive, the scenario of oligopolistic competition from Foreign firms is more favorable to their development than the scenario of perfect competition.
Geographical Indications (GIs) for products (Basmati rice, Champagne sparkling wine, Antigua coffee, etc.) were regulated at the international level in 1995 (WTO TRIPS Agreement, Part II, Section 3). This paper sets a general framework of analysis for GI-labeled goods, based on the modeling of a GI as a club asset (partial excludability and no rivalry in benefits to the firms that lawfully label their products with the GI). A model of club reputation is developed which includes Shapiro (1982) and Winfree & McCluskey (2005) as special cases. Reputation is assumed to be traceable through the GI label; quality is endogenously determined at the firm level, with reputation as the state variable. In contrast with previous research, it is shown that the TRIPS legal construct around GIs is potentially compatible with an equilibrium involving a self-fulfilling level of quality (and reputation) that is above the minimum, under the condition that the GI club has a reduced membership of firms. However, the establishment of a minimum level of quality is still the first best policy to improve firm profits. It is also shown that under bottom-up firm-driven processes of club formation (maximization of firm profits), firm levels of quality and profits are higher, and levels of club membership are lower, than under top-down State-driven processes (maximization of club profits). When quality is taken as exogenous, the model evolves into a static partial equilibrium framework, where the GI is subject to potential dilution phenomena due to membership crowding and oversupply. GI-related expenses, output, membership, and club finance are all determined simultaneously. It is shown that under partial rivalry in benefits, both output and membership are reduced, in an equilibrium that approaches the cartel equilibrium. State subsidization is shown to lead to potential inefficiencies stemming from price and incentive distortions. The geographical confinement of output is shown to impact factor prices and quantities. Finally, issues concerning potential monopsonistic concerns and the replication of GIs are briefly sketched.
The subject of this paper is Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 of the United States, a statute that for the past 35 years has allowed the U.S. to unilaterally handle its trade disputes. More specifically, the paper examines the constraining and supporting effects of the multilateral trading system (GATT and WTO) on the effectiveness of Section 301 in general (127 cases), and of retaliatory threats and sanctions in particular (44 cases). In contrast with previous empirical papers, the emphasis is on the gradual interaction between both instances, with special attention to the escalation of the multilateral dispute and the timing of retaliatory threats and sanctions (if any). The paper shows that contrary to conventional wisdom, Section 301 has been less about ‘aggressive unilateralism’ (Bhagwati and Patrick 1991) than about reinforcing the multilateral trading system and the U.S. agenda in it. Section 301 proceedings and retaliation were often used in contravention of international trade law; but they were also used as tools to enforce multilateral rulings or to advance the multilateral agenda upon non-Members or on new issues. To address the effectiveness question, a qualitative response model is used. Results confirm the hypothesis prevalent in the extant literature that a process of escalation at the GATT/WTO is correlated with a higher success rate of Section 301 investigations in changing the target country’s policy. However, the impact is not linear; a settlement is more likely early in the bargaining stages rather than after a ruling is issued by a GATT/WTO panel. The empirical estimation is based on a comprehensive dataset on all Section 301 cases and on the related GATT/WTO dispute(s); and on 45 case studies outlined in the Appendix which, supplemented by the case studies of Bayard & Elliott (1994), are the basis for the coding of the dependent variable.
We provide a comparison of salient organizational features of primary markets for foreign government debt over the very long run. We focus on output, quality control, information provision, competition, pricing, charging and signaling. We find that the market set up experienced a radical transformation in the recent period and interpret this as resulting from the rise of liability insurance provided by rating agencies. Underwriters have given up their former role as gatekeepers of liquidity and certification agencies to become aggressive competitors in a new speculative grade market.
This paper analyzes the spatial interdependence of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in a cross-section framework using the Contagion Index proposed by Baldwin and Jaimovich (2010). A Bayesian heteroskedastic probit model is estimated, where a spatial lag is built based on the Contagion Index, finding evidence of interdependence related with a domino-like effect. I compare the results with simple probit estimations and other spatial specifications.
This paper addresses the impact of Multilateral Trade Liberalisation (MTL) on the preferential tariffs granted by the United States. For a given MFN tariff, we model the preferential tariff with a simple linear functional form. We take MTL of the US as known to the world by the end of Uruguay Round in 1994 and estimate its impact on preferential tariff negotiations during 1995 to 2007. We use a three dimensional panel data, which takes into account the partner, product and time variation of the data-set. To complete our data-set, we codify eight PTA legal agreements. We draw three important conclusions. First, the products that are highly protected do not get high preferential access even at the regional level. Second, reciprocity plays only a limited role in granting better preferential access. Third, irrespective of development level of the partner, the non-reciprocal GSP preferences always matter.
This paper uses an untapped dataset on Swiss immigration and a novel instrumental variable to test three channels through which migrants promote trade. The main finding is that migrant networks are an effective substitute for formal institutions in facilitating trade. The effect takes place entirely on the extensive margin, suggesting migrant networks may be reducing fixed entry costs characterized by corruption.
that they insulate output better from real shocks, because the exchange rate can adjust and stabilize demand for domestic goods through expenditure switching. This argument is weakened in a model with high foreign currency debt and low exchange rate pass through to import prices. We analyze the transmission of real external shocks to the domestic economy under fixed and flexible exchange rate regimes for a broad sample of countries in a Panel VAR and let the responses vary with foreign currency indebtedness and import structure. We find that flexible exchange rates do not insulate output better from external shocks if the country imports mainly low pass-through goods and can even amplify the output response if foreign indebtedness is high.
The present study aims to contribute to the debate concerning the effects on economic performance and the structure of the labor market of regulations that combine high Employment Protection Legislations (EPL) with consent for the use of fixed-term contracts (FTC). Using a Rajan and Zingales (1998) difference-in-difference empirical technique in a panel of 45 countries, we explore the response of industries that differ in their "intrinsic need" of worker turnover when they face different levels of EPL and how the possibility of using FTC might change the outcome. Our approach suggests an original demand side explanation of the claiming of FTC.
