This paper presents a general result for simultaneous reform of tariffs and quotas in a small open economy, where some of the quota rents do not accrue to domestic residents. Absent highly perverse income effects, welfare must rise following a uniform proportionate reduction in tariffs and a...

We show that the effects of tariff changes on welfare and import volume can be fully characterised by their effects on the generalised mean and variance of the tariff distribution. Using these tools, we derive new results for welfare- and market-access-improving tariff changes, which imply two...

Die Handelspolitik der Gemeinschaft ist im Jahre Eins des Binnenmarktes deutlich ins Schlingern geraten. Drei Faktoren haben dazu beigetragen. Erstens mußten "Altlasten" aus der Vor-Binnenmarktzeit in Gestalt unterschiedlicher nationaler Handelspolitiken vereinheitlicht werden, um einen völlig...

Based on the observation that industries are often geographically concentrated, this paper proposes a new political economy model of trade protection. We associate the sectors of a specific factors model with electoral districts populated by continua of heterogeneous voters who differ in their...

Mis-match of trade statistics between developed and developing countries indicate a substantial mis-invoicing of trade figures, primarily by developing country traders. This is due to the inflexible exchange rate regimes, severe import restrictions and export subsidies prevailing in LDCs. In...

At the Uruguay Round, tariff rate quotas (TRQs) were intended to serve two purposes: first, to prevent that tariffication would lead – at least on the short term – to a deterioration of market access and second, to create new, minimum market access. The since then observed fill rates do not...

We study the optimal trade policy against a foreign oligopoly withendogenous quality. We show that, under the Most Favoured Nation(MFN) clause, a uniform tariff policy is always welfare improvingover the free trade equilibrium. However, a nonuniform tariff policyis always desirable on welfare...

Natural resources account for 20% of world trade, and dominate the exports of many countries. Policy is used to manipulate both international and domestic prices of resources, yet this policy is largely outside the disciplines of the WTO. The instruments used include export taxes, price...