国际贸易Chapter10 The Political Economy of Trade Policy.ppt

International Negotiations of Trade Policy The average US tariff rate on dutiable imports has decreased substantially from 1920–1993. Since 1944, much of the reduction in tariffs and other trade restrictions came about through international negotiations. The General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was begun in 1947 as a provisional international agreement and was replaced by a more formal international institution called the World Trade Organization(WTO) in 1995. International Negotiations (多边协调)of Trade Policy (cont.) International Negotiations of Trade Policy (cont.) Multilateral negotiation mobilize exporters to support free trade if they believe export markets will expand. This support would be lacking in a unilateral(单边的) push for free trade. This support counteracts the support for restricted trade by import-competing groups. International Negotiations of Trade Policy (cont.) Multilateral negotiations also help avoid a trade war between countries, where each country enacts trade restrictions. If each country has a political interest (due to political pressure) to protect domestic producers, regardless of what other countries do, then all countries could enact trade restrictions, even if it is in the interest of all countries to have free trade. Collective Action However, for those groups who may suffer large losses from free trade (for example, unemployment), each individual in that group has a strong incentive to advocate the policy he desires. In this case, the cost and time required to advocate restricted trade is small compared to the cost of unemployment. 集体行动与搭便车 美国经济学家曼瑟尔·奥尔森指出：代表团体利益的政治行为是一种利众行为，也就是说，这种行为将有利于团体中的所有成员，而不仅仅有利于实施这一行为的个人。 假设某个消费者给所在选区的国会议员写了一封信，要求降低他所喜爱的某种进口商品的关税率，而且这封信的确改变了该议员的初衷，进而使降低关税的议案得以通过。那么所有购买该进口商品的消费者，即使他们并没有劳神写信，也可以从降低了的价格中获益。 这就意味着贸易政策具有公共品（public goods）的特性。贸易政策的公共品特性又意味着贸易政策的消费者（受益者）具有搭便车（free rider）的倾向。搭便车的存在使得那些虽然在总体上损失巨大，但是任何个人的损失都很小的政策不会遭到有效的反对。这就是奥尔森所说的集体行动的困难：当施加压力以谋求某种政策的行为是有利于集团的整体利益时，那么从个人的利益出发谁都不愿意去做。 一个集