Red-tape barriers (RTBs) are an important source of trade costs, but have received little attention in the trade literature. In this paper we take a first step toward a theory of RTBs, and show that their implications can be very different from those of more traditional trade barriers. The model highlights that RTBs have important impacts on the extensive margin of trade, and yields rich compar...

We analyze convergence across countries over the last half century as a result of globalizing forces. Drawing on theories of modernization, dependency, the world-system, political trade blocs, and the world-society, we consider economic, demographic, knowledge, financial, and political dimensions of convergence. Using a new methodology, we calculate the minimum volume ellipsoid encompassing dif...

We study how the opportunity to trade in trash might influence equilibrium outcome when tax on externality is determined by a political economy process. In our model, individuals have heterogeneous preferences for environmental quality , and there wastage of real resources funds are transferred from pressure groups politicians. When hard-core environmentalists capitalists organized interest whi...

In this paper, we empirically investigate how the ideology of the government in power a®ects trade policy. The prediction of a partisan, ideology-based model (within a two-sector, two-factor Heckscher-Ohlin framework) is that left-wing governments will adopt more protectionist trade policies in capital rich countries, but adopt more pro-trade policies in labor rich economies than right-wing one...

In this paper we present a model of endogenous trade-policy formation which captures crucial aspects of the Japanese commercial and political culture. We analyze the influence of the portrayed cultural traits and show that cultural idiosyncrasies are important determinants of trade policy formation; especially the complex interaction of the two types of cultures is shown to have significant con...

Why is there still so much protectionism in light of political rhetoric extolling the virtues of free trade, favorable economic theory and evidence, and legal pressure to dismantle protectionist measures? The answer rests on four factors and their interactions: globalization, asset specificity, political power, and institutional access. I test the argument using data from 14 EU member states du...

In this paper we compare and contrast the political viability of bilateral Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreements in the presence of tariffs and quotas. Assuming that the government maximizes a weighted sum of welfare and producer profits, we show that the political viability of FTAs varies according to whether trade restrictions take the form of tariffs or quotas. A key result is that whereas an FTA...