外交贸易壁垒外文翻译.docVIP

外文翻译 原文 DIPLOMATIC BARRIERS TO TRADE Material Source: De Economist, 1992, Volume 140, Number 1, Pages 45-64 Author: Peter A. G. van Bergeijk l INTRODUCTION Economists often neglect the political dimension when they analyze the economic relations between countries. Their pre-eminent domain is inter- national trade, capital flows, the transfer of technology and the coordination of macroeconomic policy, in sum the whole area where cooperation among countries yields higher welfare for all. One wonders whether this abstraction in the analysis is desirable. Relations between countries are just as seldom per- manently harmonious as are personal relationships. Conflict seems to be a radical characteristic of human activity. Disregard of this dimension may yield deceptive results in the analysis of the international economic system. This article re-thinks the relationship between trade and diplomacy. Diplomacy has not been restricted to the activities of diplomats only; it is a broad concept that covers all kinds of international cooperation and interna- ti6nal conflict. The focus is on the influence exerted by the diplomatic climate on foreign trade. The twin question of the influence of trade on the diplomatic climate is not dealt with.t In order to investigate the influence of political relations on trade flows, the bilateral diplomatic climate will be added to the so-called gravity equation in an attempt to explain more fully the pattern of bilateral trade flows. The reason to include political variables in an empirical investigation of trade flows is that non-economic ends, such as political and military security, or non-economic events, such as recalling of ambassadors or strategic political support, may in- fluence (expectations about) the course of trade. Spero (1977, p. 9) argues thateconomic policy is frequently either shaped by political concerns o