In 1965, Cooper and Massell (Economic Journal 75: 742-7) showed that a policy of unilateral tariff reduction (UTR) was superior to the formation of a customs union (CU). Although their model was concerned with only static resource reallocation effects, many analysts treated the Cooper/Massell...

For a decade and a half, Cooper and Massell's (1965) conclusion that a policy of unilateral tariff reduction (UTR) is superior to the formation of a customs union (CU) remained unchallenged. However Wonnacott and Wonnacott (1981) using a more realistic model, claimed to show that UTR need not...