Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-bmd9x Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-05T09:15:50.113Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Political Economy of the Tariff Cycle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

James Cassing ,
Timothy J. McKeown  and
Jack Ochs
James Cassing
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Timothy J. McKeown
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Jack Ochs
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

How can protectionism and “free” trade succeed one another? Our answer focuses on the changing balance of private actors' political demands. These actors acquire interests in tariff policies because their assets are spatially concentrated, and trade in these assets is subject to various limitations. Actors in regions experiencing no new investment in an established industry (“old” regions) have interests that sometimes differ from those in regions where there is new investment. We show that old regions have no reason to be involved in tariff politics at business cycle peaks; during troughs, whether a state becomes more or less protectionist depends, ceteris paribus, on the relative political strength of old import-competing and old exporting interests. If old import-competing industries outweigh the old exporters, then protection will tend to increase at the trough and decrease at the peak of a business cycle; the opposite result occurs when old exporters are more influential.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 80 , Issue 3 , September 1986 , pp. 843 - 862
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bauer, Raymond A., Pool, Ithiel de Sola, and Dexter, Lewis Anthony. 1963. American Business and Public Policy: The Politics of Foreign Trade. New York: Atherton.Google Scholar
Boehme, Helmut. 1966. Deutschlands Weg zur Grossmacht: Studien zum Verhaeltnis von Wirtschaft and Staat waehrend der Reichgruenderzeit, 1848–1881 [Germany's path to great power status: Studies of the relation of economy and state during the founding of the Reich, 1848–1881]. Cologne: Kiepenheuer & Witsch.Google Scholar
Chamberlin, John. 1974. Provision of Collective Goods as a Function of Group Size. American Political Science Review, 68:707–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheh, John H. 1974. United States Concessions in the Kennedy Round and Short-Run Labor Adjustment Costs. Journal of International Economics, 4:323–40.Google Scholar
Constantopolous, Maria. 1974. Labour Protection in Western Europe. European Economic Review, 5:313–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conybeare, John A. C. 1983. Tariff Protection in Developed and Developing Countries: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis. International Organization, 37:441–68.Google Scholar
Conybeare, John A. C. 1983. Letter to author, 11 April.Google Scholar
Galambos, Louis. 1966. Competition and Cooperation: The Emergence of a National Trade Association. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Gallarotti, Giulio M. 1985. Toward a Business Cycle Model of Tariffs. International Organization, 29:155–88.Google Scholar
Gilpin, Robert. 1975. U.S. Power and the Multinational Corporation: The Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment. New York: Basic Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helleiner, G. K. 1977. The Political Economy of Canada's Tariff Structure: An Alternative Model. Canadian Journal of Economics, 10:318–27.Google Scholar
Katzenstein, Peter J., ed. 1978. Between Power and Plenty: Foreign Economic Policies of Advanced Industrial States. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1976. State Power and the Structure of International Trade. World Politics, 28:317–47.Google Scholar
Lavergne, Real. 1983. The Political Economy of U.S. Tariffs. Toronto: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lowi, Theodore. 1964. American Business, Public Policy, Case-Studies, and Political Theory. World Politics, 16:677–715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magee, Stephen P. 1978. Three Simple Tests of the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem. In Oppenheimer, Peter, ed., Issues in International Economics. Stocksfield, England: Oriel Press.Google Scholar
Marvel, Howard P., and Ray, Edward J.. 1983. The Kennedy Round: Evidence on the Regulation of International Trade in the United States. American Economic Review, 73:190–97.Google Scholar
McKeown, Timothy J. 1984. Firms and Tariff Regime Change: Explaining the Demand for Protection. World Politics, 36:215–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1982. The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Peltzman, Sam. 1976. Toward a More General Theory of Regulation. Journal of Law & Economics, 19:211–40.Google Scholar
Pincus, Jonathan J. 1975. Pressure Groups and the Pattern of Tariffs. Journal of Political Economy, 83:757–78.Google Scholar
Pincus, Jonathan J. 1977. Pressure Groups and Politics in Antebellum Tariffs. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Ray, Edward John. 1981. The Determinants of Tariff and Nontariff Trade Restrictions in the United States. Journal of Political Economy, 89:105–21.Google Scholar
Riedel, James. 1977. Tariff Concessions in the Kennedy Round and the Structure of Protection in West Germany. Journal of International Economics, 7:133–43.Google Scholar
Salisbury, Robert H. 1969. An Exchange Theory of Interest Groups. Midwest Journal of Political Science, 13:1–32.Google Scholar
Schattschneider, E. E. 1935. Politics, Pressures and the Tariff. New York: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Schelling, Thomas. 1973. Hockey Helmets, Concealed Weapons and Daylight Saving: A Study of Binary Choice with Externalities. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 17:381–428.Google Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Weingast, Barry R.. 1981. Political Preferences for the Pork Barrel: A Generalization. American Journal of Political Science, 25:96–111.Google Scholar
Stern, James L. 1972. Consequences of Plant Closure. Journal of Human Resources, 8:1–21.Google Scholar
Stolper, Wolfgang, and Samuelson, Paul. 1941. Protection and Real Wages. Review of Economic Studies, 9:58–73.Google Scholar
Strange, Susan. 1979. The Management of Surplus Capacity: Or How Does Theory Stand Up to Protectionism 1970s Style? International Organization, 33:303–34.Google Scholar
Takacs, Wendy E. 1981. Pressures for Protectionism: An Empirical Analysis. Economic Inquiry, 19:687–93.Google Scholar
Vernon, Raymond. 1966. International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 80:190–207.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.