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Measurement and Political Economy of Disputed Technical Regulations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Suzanne Thornsbury ,
Donna Roberts  and
David Orden
Suzanne Thornsbury
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Donna Roberts
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, Washington, DC
David Orden
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA
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Abstract

Technical regulations are increasingly visible in agricultural trade, yet their idiosyncratic nature has limited prior aggregate analysis. This article draws on a unique data source for systematic enumeration of the technical regulations questioned by one exporter among all of its trading partners in mid-1996. Political economy analysis indicates that barriers decrease when the relative contribution of agriculture to an economy increases, when the anticipated future level of protection through other forms of government intervention increases, and when economies are more open. Despite increased scrutiny and discipline by the World Trade Organization, technical barriers remain a significant impediment in world agricultural markets.

Keywords

limited dependent variablesanitary and phytosanitaryWTOF13F14C21C24
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , December 2004 , pp. 559 - 574
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2004

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