No Razor’s Edge Reexamining Alwyn Young’s Evidence for.pdf

No Razor’s Edge: Reexamining Alwyn Young’s Evidence for Increasing Inter-Provincial Trade Barriers in China Alwyn Young (2000) provided evidence for distortions begetting distortions in a partially reformed economy by examining barriers to inter-provincial trade in China. His findings of increasing barriers to inter-provincial trade are based on five arguments. This paper critically examines each of the five arguments and their evidence in turn, and concludes that in all five instances neither argument nor evidence are compelling. Furthermore, if inter-provincial trade barriers cause the specific consequences advocated by Alwyn Young, then evidence for the U.S. indicates a recent history of severe inter-state trade wars in the U.S. JEL codes: P2 Economic Systems: Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies P20 General P23 Factor and Product Markets; Industry Studies; Population P24 National Income, Product, and Expenditure; Money; Inflation P27 Performance and Prospects P31 Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions D72 Microeconomics: Analysis of Collective Decision-Making: Economic Models of Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior Keywords: Protectionism, rent-seeking, distortions, law of one price, regional comparative advantages, industrial structure, price reform, transition policies (all: China) Carsten A. Holz Social Science Division Hong Kong University of Science Technology Clear Water Bay Kowloon Hong Kong