Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-8cpv7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-04T15:33:27.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What Governments Maximize and Why: The View from Trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2009

Kishore Gawande ,
Pravin Krishna  and
Marcelo Olarreaga
Kishore Gawande
Affiliation:
Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A & M University. E-mail: kgawande@tamu.edu
Pravin Krishna
Affiliation:
School of Advanced International Studies & Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. E-mail: Pravin_Krishna@jhu.edu
Marcelo Olarreaga
Affiliation:
Département d'Economie Politique, Université de Genève, Switzerland. E-mail: Marcelo.Olarreaga@ecopo.unige.ch
Get access

Abstract

Policymaking power enables governments to redistribute income to powerful interests in society. However, some governments exhibit greater concern for aggregate welfare than others. This government behavior may itself be endogenously determined by a number of economic, political, and institutional factors. Trade policy, being fundamentally redistributive, provides a valuable context in which the welfare-mindedness of governments may be empirically evaluated. This article investigates quantitatively the welfare-mindedness of governments and attempts to understand these political and institutional determinants of the differences in government behavior across countries.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 63 , Issue 3 , July 2009 , pp. 491 - 532
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2009

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.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Arrow, Kenneth J. 1963. Social Choice and Individual Values. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Austen-Smith, David. 1987. Interest Groups, Campaign Contributions, and Probabilistic Voting. Public Choice 54 (2):123–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldwin, Robert E. 1985. The Political Economy of U.S. Import Policy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Baldwin, Robert E., and Magee, Christopher S.. 2000. Is Trade Policy for Sale? Congressional Voting on Recent Trade Bills. Public Choice 105 (1–2):79–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bardhan, Pranab K., and Mookherjee, Dilip. 2000. Capture and Governance at Local and National Levels. American Economic Review 90 (2):135–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, David P. 1994. Electoral Competition with Informed and Uninformed Voters. American Political Science Review 88 (1):33–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, David P., and Ferejohn, John A.. 1989. Bargaining in Legislatures. American Political Science Review 83 (4):1181–1206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, Thorsten, Clarke, George R., Groff, Alberto, Keefer, Philip E., and Walsh, Patrick. 2001. New Tools in Comparative Political Economy: The Database of Political Institutions. World Bank Economic Review 15 (1):165–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, André, Nevitte, Neil, Gidengil, Elisabeth, and Nadeau, Richard. 2000. Do People Have Feelings toward Leaders About Whom They Say They Know Nothing? Public Opinion Quarterly 64 (4):452–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bohara, Alok K., Camargo, Alejandro Islas, Grijalva, Therese, and Gawande, Kishore. 2005. Fundamental dimensions of U.S. trade policy. Journal of International Economics 65 (1):93–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Smith, Alastair, Silverson, Randolph M., and Morrow, James D.. 2003. The Logic of Political Survival. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Commission on Growth and Development. 2008. The Growth Report: Strategies for Sustained Growth and Inclusive Development. Available at ⟨http://www.growthcommission.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=96&Itemid=169⟩. Accessed 2 February 2009.Google Scholar
de Figueiredo, Rui J. P. Jr. 2002. Electoral Competition, Political Uncertainty, and Policy Insulation. American Political Science Review 96 (2):321–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutt, Pushan, and Mitra, Devashish. 2002. Endogenous Trade Policy Through Majority Voting: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of International Economics 58 (1):107–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutt, Pushan, and Mitra, Devashish. 2005. Political Ideology and Endogenous Trade Policy: An Empirical Investigation. Review of Economics and Statistics 87 (1):59–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eicher, Theo, and Osang, Thomas. 2002. Protection for Sale: An Empirical Investigation: Comment. American Economic Review 92 (5):1702–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgie, Robert. 2001. Divided Government in Comparative Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Euromonitor International. 2004. Latin America Marketing Data and Statistics 2004. London: Euromonitor International.Google Scholar
Euromonitor International. 2008. International Marketing Data and Statistics 2008. London: Euromonitor International.Google Scholar
Evans, Caroline L. 2008. A Protectionist Bias in Majoritarian Politics: An Empirical Investigation. Forthcoming in Economics and Politics.Google Scholar
Fuller, Wayne A. 1986. Measurement Error Models. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Gawande, Kishore, and Bandyopadhyay, Usree. 2000. Is Protection for Sale? A Test of the Grossman-Helpman Theory of Endogenous Protection. Review of Economics and Statistics 82 (1):139–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gawande, Kishore, and Krishna, Pravin. 2003. The Political Economy of Trade Policy: Empirical Approaches. In Handbook of International Trade, edited by Choi, E. Kwan and Harrigan, James, 213–50. New York: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou, and Maggi, Giovanni. 1999. Protection for Sale: An Empirical Investigation. American Economic Review 89 (5):1135–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, Gene M., and Helpman, Elhanan. 1994. Protection for Sale. American Economic Review 84 (4):833–50.Google Scholar
Grossman, Gene M., and Helpman, Elhanan. 1996. Electoral Competition and Special Interest Politics. Review of Economic Studies 63 (2):265–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, Gene M., and Helpman, Elhanan. 2005. A Protectionist Bias in Majoritarian Politics. Quarterly Journal of Economics 120 (4):1239–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helpman, Elhanan, and Persson, Torsten. 2001. Lobbying and Legislative Bargaining. Advances in Economic Analysis and Policy 1 (1): Article 3.Google Scholar
Hiscox, Michael J. 2002. Commerce, Coalitions, and Factor Mobility: Evidence from Congressional Votes on Trade Legislation. American Political Science Review 96 (3):593–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kee, Hiau Looi, Nicita, Alessandro, and Olarreaga, Marcelo. 2004. Import Demand Elasticities and Trade Distortions. CEPR Discussion Paper No. 4669. London: Centre for Economic and Policy Research.Google Scholar
Kee, Hiau Looi, Nicita, Alessandro, and Olarreaga, Marcelo. 2008. Import Demand Elasticities and Trade Distortions. The Review of Economics and Statistics 90:666–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, Peter E. 1981. Estimation with Correctly Interpreted Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations. American Economic Review 71 (4):801.Google Scholar
Levine, Ross, and Renelt, David. 1992. A Sensitivity Analysis of Cross-Country Growth Regressions. American Economic Review 82 (4):942–63.Google Scholar
Lohmann, Susanne, and O'Halloran, Sharyn. 1994. Divided Government and U.S. Trade Policy: Theory and Evidence. International Organization 48 (4):595–632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Majumdar, Sumon, Mani, Anandi, and Mukand, Sharun W.. 2004. Politics, Information and the Urban Bias. Journal of Development Economics 75 (1):137–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansfield, Edward D., and Busch, Marc L.. 1995. The Political Economy of Nontariff Barriers: A Cross-National Analysis. International Organization 49 (4):723–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansfield, Edward D., Milner, Helen V., and Rosendorff, B. Peter. 2000. Free to Trade: Democracies, Autocracies, and International Trade. American Political Science Review 94 (2):305–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansfield, Edward D., Milner, Helen V., and Rosendorff, B. Peter. 2002. Why Democracies Cooperate More: Electoral Control and International Trade Agreements. International Organization 56 (3):477–513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCalman, Phillip. 2004. Protection for Sale and Trade Liberalization: An Empirical Investigation. Review of International Economics 12 (1):81–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGillivray, Fiona. 1997. Party Discipline as a Determinant of the Endogenous Formation of Tariffs. American Journal of Political Science 41 (2):584–607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, Helen V., and Kubota, Keiko. 2005. Why the Move to Free Trade? Democracy and Trade Policy in the Developing Countries. International Organization 59 (1):107–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitra, Devashish, 1999. Endogenous Lobby Formation and Endogenous Protection: A Long-Run Model of Trade Policy Determination, American Economic Review 89: 1116–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitra, Devashish, Thomakos, Dimitrios D., and Ulubasoglu, Mehmet A.. 2002. “Protection for Sale” in a Developing Country: Democracy vs. Dictatorship. Review of Economics and Statistics 84 (3):497–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicita, Alessandro, and Olarreaga, Marcelo. 2007. Trade, Production, and Protection Database, 1976–2004. World Bank Economic Review 21 (1):165–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, Torsten. 1998. Economic Policy and Special Interest Politics. Economic Journal 108 (447):310–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, Torsten, Roland, Gérard, and Tabellini, Guido. 1997. Separation of Powers and Political Accountability. Quarterly Journal of Economics 112 (4):1163–1202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, G. Bingham Jr., and Whitten, Guy D. 1993. A Cross-National Analysis of Economic Voting: Taking Account of the Political Context. American Journal of Political Science 37 (2): 391–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prat, Andrea, and Stromberg, David. 2006. Commercial Television and Voter Information. Unpublished manuscript. At ⟨http://econ.lse.ac.uk/staff/prat/papers/statetv.pdf⟩. Accessed 9 February 2009.Google Scholar
Rodrik, Dani. 2008. Spence Christens a New Washington Consensus. The Economists' Voice 5: Article 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogowski, Ronald. 1987. Trade and the Variety of Democratic Institutions. International Organization 41 (2):203–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schattschneider, E. E. 1935. Politics, Pressure, and the Tariff: A Study in Free Private Enterprise in Pressure Politics, as Shown in the 1929–1930 Revision of the Tariff. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Shapiro, S. S., and Wilk, M. B.. 1965. An Analysis of Variance Test for Normality (Complete Samples). Biometrika 52 (3/4):591–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stratmann, Thomas. 2007. How Prices Matter in Politics: Returns to Campaign Advertising. Unpublished manuscript, George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stromberg, David. 2004. Mass Media Competition, Political Competition, and Public Policy. Review of Economic Studies 71 (1):265–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willmann, Gerald. 2005. Why Legislators Are Protectionists: the Role of Majoritarian Voting in Setting Tariffs. Manuscript.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Advertising Trends. 1998. Oxfordshire: United Kingdom: NTC Publications.Google Scholar
World Bank. World Development Indicators. Various issues. Washington, D.C.: World Bank and Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
World Bank. World Development Report. Various issues between 1985 and 2001. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.Google Scholar