Level Of Protectionism Research Articles

An Empirical Investigation of the Determinants of Protectionism: A Case of Pakistan

Pakistan is among the most protectionist economies of the world and highly protective trade regimes thus calls for an investigation of the determinants of this protectionism. The current study intends to examine the macroeconomic determinants of protectionism in the case of Pakistan employing the Granger Causality test and Impulse Response Function covering a time period from 1988- 2018. The results of the Granger Causality test reveal that unemployment & GDP Granger cause the tariff rate and there exists a unidirectional relationship between these two variables with the tariff rate. Contrary to this, the tariff rate is granger caused by the trade balance. Terms of the trade is found to have a bidirectional association with the tariff rate, while there is no evidence of a causal relationship between the tariff rate and inflation. The results of Impulse Response functions reveal that an increase in unemployment and a higher TOT, both are found to be positively associated with an increased level of protectionism. However, a higher level of GDP or economic growth leads to reduce the protectionism thereby reducing the tariff rate. The results of the study are quite pertinent in identifying the core factors inducing a high level of protectionism in Pakistan

ПРОБЛЕМИ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ РОЗВИТКУ МОРСЬКОЇ ТОРГІВЛІ В УМОВАХ ПАНДЕМІЇ COVID-19

International trade is influenced by many factors: the development and deepening of the labor international division and the production internationalization; trade growth and economic integration with the common markets formation, free trade zones; international trade liberalization, reduction of the level of protectionism and trade barriers. The very first form of international trade was sea trade, since one of the oldest modes of transport is sea transport, which still retains its primacy in cargo transportation. Sea trade is a form of international economic relations, international trade in goods, the delivery of which is carried out using sea transport.The article examines the current state and trends in the maritime trade deve-lopment, identifies the main problems of the maritime industry and the risks that threaten the development of maritime trade in a pandemic, analyzes the prospects for the deve-lopment of trade with the participation of maritime transport in the world and in Ukraine.Trade tensions have triggered a restructuring of global maritime trade, as the search for alternative markets and suppliers has redirected flows from China to other markets, especially in Southeast Asia. UNCTAD experts note that the impact of COVID-19 on trade was most severe in the first half of 2020, when trade volumes fell by 15 %. But many countries never recovered by the end of the year. On the other hand, some states were able to successfully withstand new challenges and achieved an increase in their share in the world market, displacing from it the least competitive suppliers, which suffered as a result of reduced demand. The analysis showed that the structure of Ukraine's maritime trade was quite resistant to the emergence of coronavirus. And the significant share of agricultural products in production and exports is a confirmation of this fact. For the development of Ukraine's maritime trade and integration into the world economic system, it is necessary to develop and implement the capabilities of the national maritime economic complex, to protect the interests of Ukraine as a maritime power in the foreign policy and foreign economic spheres.Keywords: maritime trade, COVID-19 pandemic, export, import, maritime policy.

La Organización Mundial de Comercio. Entre las normas del siglo XX y la política comercial del siglo XXI

Las relaciones comerciales internacionales atraviesan un período de transformaciones. A partir del análisis de estadísticas y documentos, se identifica en este trabajo una tendencia hacia la configuración de una nueva política comercial externa a nivel global, con mayores niveles de proteccionismo y uso distorsivo de subsidios. Esta nueva configuración ha provocado renovadas tensiones en las relaciones entre los Estados, planteando el interrogante respecto del tipo de acciones estratégicas que requiere su abordaje. Se argumenta, que el multilateralismo sigue presentado las mayores fortalezas frente a este tipo de problemas. De allí que exista un rol para la Organización Mundial de Comercio, llenando el gap que existe entre las «normas del comercio internacional del siglo XX» y las «nuevas políticas comerciales del siglo XXI».

Overcoming the Incoherent ‘Grand Maneuver’ in the French Film and TV Markets: Lessons from the Experiences in France and Korea

AbstractIn 1989, the Member States of the European Union integrated their TV markets together in order to create a larger and more open ‘single TV market’ through the Television without Frontiers Directive. The French film industry used this opportunity to extract additional revenues by implementing TV quotas and strengthening the chronologie des médias. This paper examines the impact of these two measures on the French film and TV industries and shows how they were incoherent. In contrast to the expectations of the French film industry, these measures have induced it to produce less attractive films and burdened the TV industry with increased regulatory costs. While the government poured massive subsidies into the filmmaking sector, this endeavor has not been able to significantly improve the attractiveness of French films. In this regard, the Korean film industry offers valuable lessons. Since the late 1990s, the Korean government has significantly reduced its level of protectionism and scaled back its intervention in the industry. Crucially, business has been the main engine to produce attractive films that can compete with Hollywood films in the open market. For the French film industry, the findings in this paper suggest which direction its Grandes Manœuvres should pursue.

ОТ ЛЕГИТИМНОГО ПРОТЕКЦИОНИЗМА К ТОРГОВЫМ ВОЙНАМ?

The author argues that modern protectionism has a more moderate character than that in the middle of the past century. Besides that it does not, as a rule, go beyond multilateral rules of the regulation of international trade. This allows us to define it as a legitimate one. The author estimates the probability of the execution of the approved program of the negotiations of the Doha round which aims at further liberalization of agricultural and non-agricultural trade as well as services. It is stated that the deadlock situation during the negotiations forced the members of the WTO to step back from the batch method of decision-making and the principle “everything is compulsory for all”. This opened the way for the progress in reduction of trade barriers with the help of agreements between limited number of the participants (selective liberalization) and preferential regional trade agreements of the new type (“liberalization for those who care”). A fear is expressed that the current trade conflict between the US and China may lead to the opening of wide-scale trade war between the two countries and may give an impetus for the outbreak of similar “wars” between other participants in the world trade and, at worst, for the collapse of the multilateral trading system that has been built during the past seventy years. In this case, international rules, though not perfect and outdated, might be substituted by chaos and anarchy which may result in the aggravation of problems of the world development. Further on, the author pays attention to the fact that the level of tariff protection in Russia somewhat decreased after the WTO accession. Still, the membership in this organization does not create any serious problems for most sectors and branches of the national economy. It is a matter of fact that the level of protectionism in the Russian Federation is higher than in the developed countries but lower than in the leading developing economies (China, India, Brazil). The author states that strengthening of protectionist elements in the trade policy will be a difficult task for the Russian government. The main reason is that the principal functions of the regulation of the foreign trade have been recently subdued rom the national government to the Eurasian Economic Commission. It is concluded that the possible destruction of the established international order in trade relations will not bring benefit for the domestic economy which is, to a great extent, dependent from foreign markets both as producer and as consumer. This is why Russia has to continue full support to the WTO. Still, during negotiations on this platform Russian government has to act pragmatically and to put in the forefront the nation’s economic interests.&nbsp

Specifics of Agricultural Policy in the Countries of Central-Eastern and South- Eastern Europe in 1990–2010s

The article deals with reforms in the agricultural sector of the Central- and South-Eastern European countries both within the framework of their national economic policy and focusing on institutional harmonization with the European Union. The agrarian reforms were carried out against the background of market mechanisms’ adaptation that varied depending on current cultural-economic patterns. In most cases, the use of the institutional environment parameters of developed Western countries aimed at working out guidelines for the agricultural sector reform in the post-socialist countries had no practical significance due to existing differences in economic modes and mutual discrepancy in rational business practices. The authors show peculiarities of the agricultural development in the countries of the region in 1990–2010s and single out the main differences between them as far as organizational structure, management practices, level of protectionism, production specialization and land regulation are concerned, including approaches to farm restructuring, privatization and regulation of land relations. The article also analyses current problems of the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy in the new EU member states, primarily, the use of support mechanisms and rural development. In particular, the authors assess the prospects of the Central- and South-Eastern European countries’ participation in the development of agricultural subsidies criteria and in monitoring of their use. Basing on the relevant empirical evidence, one can conclude that for the sake of developing convergence and institutional harmonization in the agricultural sector, the EU needs a differentiated approach to strategic planning and solving of agricultural problems in its new member states.

The Electoral Salience of Trade Policy: Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Welfare and Complexity

Why do some trade policies become electorally salient while others do not? While much of the literature argues that citizens act as a domestic constraint in the formation of trade policy, a general consensus has emerged that trade is most often a nonsalient issue among voters. This poses a paradox. On the one hand, trade models hinge upon voters’ rational self-interest and preferences for varying levels of protectionism to keep their governments accountable. On the other hand, the conditions by which trade becomes salient to these very voters in the first place are both undertheorized and untested. Using experimental evidence, I argue that two dimensions of a trade policy affect the likelihood of that issue becoming electorally salient. First, policies with large welfare effects should be more salient. Second, more complex issues should be less salient because such agreements are more likely to obfuscate an individual’s ability to discern its effects. I find support for my hypotheses that a trade policy’s salience tends to increase with the magnitude of its welfare effects and decrease with its complexity.

Something left to lose? Network preservation as a motive for protectionist responses to foreign takeovers

International market integration reduces the overlap between economic and political borders, but what, exactly, does that imply? According to some rational choice accounts, it means that globalization will eventually undermine itself by triggering protectionist backlashes. Previous scholarship has highlighted flaws in the underlying assumption that elected politicians prioritize local stakeholders over anonymous shareholders. The present article adds that, regarding foreign takeovers, levels of protectionism would vary even if governments did prioritize local stakeholders, because stakeholder preferences vary across corporate governance regimes. Where, as in the UK, coordination relies more on market mechanisms than on networks, foreign acquisitions are less disruptive, and political mobilization against them is weaker. To the extent that the internationalization of corporate ownership spreads outsider governance by destroying networks, resistance therefore declines as the market expands. Quantitative correlational evidence is supplemented by case studies of bids for three British companies that provoked unusual levels of political mobilization.

Liberalism in foreign trade versus liberalism in air transportation - is there a link?

The aim of this paper is to determine whether there is a statistically significant link between regulation of international civil aviation and protectionism against foreign trade. We use weighted air liberalization index (WALI) as a proxy for the level of regulation in a country?s foreign aviation relations; trade tariff restrictiveness index (TTRI) and overall trade restrictiveness index (OTRI) as proxies for the level of protectionism in a country?s foreign trade. Correlation analysis shows that there is no statistically significant link between the indicators. Hence, our research confirms the view that air transportation is a specific sector and it is subject to a different kind of policies than trade in goods. We also demonstrate that large high-income countries tend to have a more liberal approach to international civil aviation than small low-income countries.

The march of an economic idea? Protectionism isn't counter-cyclic (anymore)

Conventional wisdom holds that protectionism is counter-cyclic; tariffs, quotas and the like grow during recessions. While that may have been a valid description of the data before the First World War, it is now inaccurate. Since the Second World War, protectionism has not been counter-cyclic; tariffs and non-tariff barriers simply do not rise systematically during downturns. I document this new stylised fact with a panel of data covering over 180 countries and 40 years, using over a dozen measures of protectionism and six of business cycles. I test and reject a number of potential reasons why protectionism is no longer counter-cyclic. A ‘diagnosis of exclusion’ leads me to believe that modern economics may well be responsible for the decline in protectionism's cyclic behaviour; economists are more united in their disdain for protectionism than virtually any other concept. This in turn leaves one optimistic that the level of protectionism will continue to decline along with its cyclicality. — Andrew K. Rose

Explaining protectionism and liberalization in European Union trade policy: the case of textiles and clothing

ABSTRACT The political economy of trade policy models and theories of European Union (EU) policy-making can explain only the incidence of protectionism or inertia in EU trade policy. To address this weakness, this article proposes an alternative approach based on state-society interaction under different degrees of issue transparency/divisibility. In this perspective, four endogenous policy outcomes may emerge: strict protectionism, selective protectionism, selective liberalization and dominant liberalization. The conclusion is that the level of protectionism is determined by the level of issue transparency/divisibility rather than the level of protectionist demands. This conclusion — based on the functionality of European integration in equalizing the rates of returns on societal loyalty to a territorial jurisdiction — is tested against evidence on the evolution of the EU's textiles and clothing policy during the Multifibre Arrangement and Uruguay Round negotiations. The evidence lends support to this argument and suggests that regional integration, in contrast to the unqualified claims of its opponents and proponents, is conducive to both protectionism and liberalization — depending on the extent to which trade policy issues are treated as transparent/divisible.