Empirical Studies of Commercial Policy

Empirical Studies of Commercial Policy
Author: Robert E. Baldwin
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0226035700

The need for careful research on trade policy is particularly acute, and this volume empirically addresses these and many other important issues. The contributors offer studies which integrate the institutional details of current trade policy with creative economic analyses. Marked by a shift from a traditional reliance on simulation models, these papers take their inspiration from recent changes in the assumptions traditionally underlying research in international trade theory. No longer are government policies viewed as being somehow "given" to the researcher; in part 1, "Analyses with a Political Economy Perspective," four papers treat such policies as endogenous and explicable in terms of political economy. Neither are product and factor markets seen as perfectly competitive; instead, the three papers in part 2, "Trade Policy Effects under Imperfectly Competitive Market Conditions," assume that firms consider the actions of other companies when formulating their decisions. In part 3, "A New Measure of Trade Restrictiveness and Estimates of Trade Policy Effects with CGE Models," the first essay explores the quantitative restrictions on cheese to develop and implement a new model of restrictive trade. Two final contributions address problems for which simulation modeling is especially useful. The first considers the effectiveness of an import surcharge in reducing the U.S. trade deficit and the second treats the welfare effects of liberalization in South Korea where increasing returns to scale are significant These innovative studies focus on economic behavior that will provide valuable insights for policymakers, academic economists, and students.

Political Economy and Freedom

Political Economy and Freedom
Author: G. Warren Nutter
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Liberty Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 1983
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

These thirty-three essays, many of them previously unpublished, illustrate the broad range of Warren Nutter's thought. There are essays on the Soviet economy and international relations as well as essays exploring the economic institutions that support a society of free people. One finds in these essays a man of intellect and judgment ever ready to look at the evidence and ever willing to admit imperfections of even the best human institutions. He defends capitalism not because it is perfect but because for this imperfect world it is superior to the attainable alternatives. G. Warren Nutter (1923-1979) taught economics at the University of Virginia. Paul Craig Roberts is a distinguished fellow at the Cato Institute.

Alternative Theories of Competition

Alternative Theories of Competition
Author: Jamee K. Moudud
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2012-10-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136241159

The history of policymaking has been dominated by two rival assumptions about markets. Those who have advocated Keynesian-type policies have generally based their arguments on the claim that markets are imperfectly competitive. On the other hand laissez faire advocates have argued the opposite by claiming that in fact free market policies will eliminate "market imperfections" and reinvigorate perfect competition. The goal of this book is to enter into this important debate by raising critical questions about the nature of market competition. Drawing on the insights of the classical political economists, Schumpeter, Hayek, the Oxford Economists’ Research Group (OERG) and others, the authors in this book challenge this perfect versus imperfect competition dichotomy in both theoretical and empirical terms. There are important differences between the theoretical perspectives of several authors in the broad alternative theoretical tradition defined by this book; nevertheless, a unifying theme throughout this volume is that competition is conceptualized as a dynamic disequilibrium process rather than the static equilibrium state of conventional theory. For almost all the others the growth of firm is consistent with a heightened degree of competitiveness, as both Marx and Schumpeter emphasized, and not a lowered one as in the conventional 'monopoly capital' view.