Cross-border lobbying in preferential trading agreements: Implications for external tariffs and welfare

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Review of International Economics

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of cross-border lobbying on domestic lobbying and on external tariffs in both Customs Union (CU) and Free Trade Area (FTA). We do so by developing a two-stage game which endogenizes the tariff formation function in a political economic model of the directly unproductive rent-seeking activities type. We find that cross-border lobbying un-ambiguously increases both domestic lobbying and the equilibrium common external tariffs in a CU. The same result also holds for FTA provided tariffs for the member governments are strategic complements. We also develop a specific oligopolistic model of FTA and show that tariffs are indeed strategic complements in such a model.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12011

Publication Date

11-2012

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