This paper investigates the extent to which trade theory is applicable for explaining trade in art. Reproducible art is distinguished from unique art and it is argued that the trade in reproducible art is, at least in principle, governed by the same economic laws as trade in other differentiated...

In this paper, we describe the institutional framework in which heavy subsidization of German classical orchestras takes place and provide figures on the structure and the level of public support. Moreover, we derive and test various hypotheses concerning the political-economic determinants of...

A natural field experiment is conducted on the determinants of consumer’s willingness to pay for “fair trade” (FT) products. In four treatments, subjects are offered different choices in connection with a coffee purchase, such as buying regular coffee or FT coffee at a premium, regular...

This paper studies the impact of a WTO withdrawal of trade concessions against countries that fail to respect globally recognized environmental standards. We show that a punishing tariff can be effective when environmental and trade policies are endogenous. When required standards lie within a...

We develop an endogenous growth model with R&D spillovers to study the long run consequences of offshoring with firm heterogeneity and incomplete contracts. In so doing, we model offshoring as the geographical fragmentation of a firm’s production chain between a home upstream division and a...

Are natural resources a source of conflict or stability? Empirical studies demonstrate that rents from natural resources, and in particular oil, are an important source of civil war. Allegedly, resource rents attract rent seekers, which destabilize society. However, there is a large literature...

This paper studies the consequences of parallel import (PI) on process innovation of firms heterogeneous in their production technology. In an international setting where foreign markets differ with respect to their intellectual property rights regime, a move by a technologically inferior firm...