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...

This paper considers a world of two symmetric countries with two factors and two sectors. Outputs of the two sectors are imperfect substitutes and sectors differ in relative factor intensity. Each sector contains a continuum of heterogenous firms that produce differentiated goods within their sector. Trade is costly and there are both variable and fixed costs of exporting. The paper shows that ...

This paper develops a simple two-region two-sector general equilibrium model of trade and migration where one monopolistically competitive sector generates local pecuniary externalities. The aim is to gain insight on the question whether economic integration can be expected to increase the differences in industrial structure between more and less developed regions. It is shown that a reduction ...

Recent literature has argued that, contrary to the results of a seminal paper by Rose (2004), WTO membership does promote bilateral trade, at least for developed economies and if membership includes non-formal compliance. We review the literature in order to identify open issues. We then develop the simplest possible “corner-solutions" version of the gravity model which serves as a framework to...

We study the impact of transnational terrorism diffusion on security and trade. We set a simple theoretical model predicting that the closer a country to a source of terrorism, the higher the negative spillovers on its trade. The idea is that security measures, which impede trade, are directed both against the source country of terror and its neighbor countries where terrorism may diffuse. In c...

This paper studies the impact of trade liberalization in terms of tariff cuts within the Eastern European enlargement on German and Austrian firm productivity. Unique matching of data from 1994 to 2003 suggests that tariff reductions raise parent firm productivity significantly. A ten percentage point decrease in tariff rates can lead to total factor productivity gains of up to 2 percent. The d...

This paper examines how a tariff affects firms’ efforts to produce safer foods that are supplied to consumers whose preference for safety of foods are different. I analyze the optimal trade policy for importing country that can impose a tariff or a subsidy on the foods. I show that the raise in tariff rate makes importing country’s firm chooses less effort to produce safer foods but foreign fir...

We examine South’s incentive to protect IPR in a North-South duopoly model where (i) the North firm owns a better technology and has the option of serving the South market via exports or FDI, and (ii) the South firm can invest in absorptive capacity to reduce the technology gap. While FDI by North firm makes absorption easier for South, investment in absorptive capacity by the South firm might ...

Using firm level data from the U.S. steel industry, we find that lobbying for import protection is habit forming. Controlling for firm performance and other factors, past lobbying increases the likelihood of current lobbying in our full sample. Expecting heterogeneity in lobbying behavior among firms, we let an EM algorithm sort our firms into groups with different propensities to lobby. A two-...

Indonesia imports fruits from around the world to serve people’s demand. Thailand as one of fruit exporters needs further explore what influences consumption Thai Fruits in Indonesia. Moreover, currently COVID-19 pandemic likely affects all sectors, including agriculture sector. This study aims analyze relation between socioeconomic characteristics and consumer behavior, particularly period, th...