Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T12:01:05.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Real Exchange Rates and Trade Protectionism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas Oatley*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina

Abstract

Real exchange rate movements are robustly related to the rise and fall of trade protectionism. I demonstrate this by presenting a theoretical model that incorporates the real exchange rate into a standard factor proportions model of trade policy preferences. The model demonstrates why some firms' trade policy preferences, and thus total demands for protectionism, change in response to real exchange rate movements. I evaluate the model with data on antidumping investigations in six industrialized countries between the late 1970s and 2004. The exercise suggests that the real exchange rate hypothesis offers a more compelling explanation for protectionist waves than the business cycle hypothesis.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2010 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

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.)

References

Baldwin, Richard, and Evenett, Simon J., eds. 2009. What World Leaders Should Do to Halt the Spread of Protectionism. London: Center for Economic Policy Research.Google Scholar
Barkley, Tom. 2009. “G-20 Warned on Restricting Trade.” Wall Street Journal, April 23.Google Scholar
Bohara, Alok K., and Kaempfer, William H. 1991. “A Test of Tariff Endogeneity in the United States.” The American Economic Review 81 (4): 952–60.Google Scholar
Bown, Chad P. 2007. Global Antidumping Database, (Version 3.0) 2007. Available from http://people.brandeis.edu/∼cbown/global_ad/.Google Scholar
Broz, Lawrence, and Frieden, Jeffry. 2001. “The Political Economy of International Monetary Relations.” Annual Review of Political Science 4: 317–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassing, James, McKeown, Timothy J., and Ochs, Jack. 1986. “The Political Economy of the Tariff Cycle.” The American Political Science Review 80 (September): 843–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corden, Warner Max. 1997. Trade Policy and Economic Welfare. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coughlin, Cletus C., Terza, Joseph V., and Khalifah, Noor Aini. 1989. “The Determinants of Escape Clause Petitions.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 71 (2): 341–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dornbusch, Rudiger. 1987. “Exchange Rates and Prices.” The American Economic Review 77 (March): 93106.Google Scholar
Eichengreen, Barry J., and Irwin, Douglas A. 2009. “The Slide to Protectionism in the Great Depression: Who Succumbed and Why?NBER Working Paper No. w15142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evenett, Simon J. 2009. “What Can Be Learned From Crisis-Era Protectionism? An Initial Assessment.” Business and Politics 11 (3).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frieden, Jeffry. 1997. “Monetary Populism in Nineteenth Century America: An Open Economy Interpretation.” Journal of Economic History 57 (June): 367–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
G-20. 2008. “Declaration Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy.” http://www.g20.org/Documents/g20_summit_declaration.pdf.Google Scholar
G-20. 2009. “The Global Plan for Recovery and Reform.” http://www.g20.org/Documents/final-communique.pdf.Google Scholar
Gallarotti, Giulio M. 1985. “Toward a Business-Cycle Model of Tariffs.” International Organization 39 (Winter): 155–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gamberoni, Elisa, and Newfarmer, Richard. 2009. “Trade Protection: Incipient but Worrisome Trends.” Trade Notes (37): 16.Google Scholar
Grilli, Enzo. 1988. “Macro-economic Determinants of Trade Protection.” The World Economy 11 (3): 313–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Irwin, Douglas A. 2005. “The Rise of US Anti-dumping Activity in Historical Perspective.” The World Economy 28 (5): 651–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knetter, Michael, and Prusa, Thomas. 2003. “Macroeconomic Factors and Antidumping Filings: Evidence from Four Countries.” Journal of International Economics 61 (1): 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leidy, Michael P. 1997. “Macroeconomic Conditions and Pressures for Protection under Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws: Empirical Evidence from the United States.” IMF Staff Papers 44 (1): 132–44.Google Scholar
McKeown, Timothy J. 1984. “Firms and Tariff Regime Change: Explaining the Demand for Protection.” World Politics 36 (January): 215–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKinnon, Ronald I., and Fung, K.C. 1993. “Floating Exchange Rates and the New Interbloc Protectionism.” In Protectionism and World Welfare, ed. Salvatore, D. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Niels, Gunnar, and Francois, Joseph. 2006. “Business Cycles, the Exchange Rate, and Demand for Antidumping Protection in Mexico.” Review of Development Economics 10 (3): 388–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takacs, Wendy. 1981. “Pressures for Protectionism: An Empirical Analysis.” Economic Inquiry 19 (4): 687–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trade Remedies Group. 1998. “Trade Remedies in New Zealand.” Wellington: Department of Commerce.Google Scholar
World Trade Organization. 2009. “Report to the TPRB from the Director-General on the Financial and Economic Crisis and Trade-Related Developments.” Geneva: WTO.Google Scholar