RECIPROCAL DUMPING AND ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES

Multiproduct multinationals and reciprocal FDI dumping

Global patterns of FDI and trade are remarkably similar, yet mainstay theory has them as substitutes. We posit a model where multiproduct, final-goods firms simultaneously engage in intraindustry FDI and intraindustry trade. The logic behind this two-way FDI is analogous to that of two-way trade in the Brander–Krugman reciprocal-dumping model. Namely, multiproduct firms use trade costs to reduc...

Income Taxes as Reciprocal Tariffs

Public finance experts have long explored the issue of income taxes making the cost of market transactions higher than nonmarket ones. A 50 percent income tax, for example, requires $20,000 in income to purchase $10,000 of market goods. The tax can be avoided, however, if the same goods can be produced at home. The upshot is that income taxes encourage the home production of goods and services ...

An empirical assessment of the welfare effects of reciprocal dumping

Can two-way trade in similar products lead to lower welfare than if such trade was banned? Theory answers yes. To empirically investigate this proposition we examine Swedish imports of bottled water. Assuming one-shot (Bertrand and Cournot) competition, we can use the estimates from a structural model of demand to uncover marginal costs. We simulate the effect on consumer and producer surplus o...

Environmental Taxes: Dead or Alive?

Both theory and recent trends suggest some optimism for the future of environmentrelated taxes. While new research emphasizes the potentially significant distortions created by environmental taxes and appears to undermine the so-called "double dividend" theory, it also suggests that virtually any environmental policy, including regulations, taxes, and tradable permits, can compound existing dis...

Should Environmental Taxes Be Precautionary?