Backfiring with backhaul problems Trade and industrial policies with endogenous transport costs

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ishikawa, Jota; Tarui, Nori
• 署名单位: Hitotsubashi University; University of Hawaii System; University of Hawaii Manoa
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2017.12.004
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 81-98
• 关键词: Transport sector; Transport Cost; Backhaul problems; International shipping; TARIFFS

摘要

Trade barriers due to transport costs are as large as those due to tariffs. This paper incorporates the transport sector into a standard model of international trade and studies the effects of trade and industrial policies. Transport firms need to commit to a shipping capacity sufficient for a round trip, with a possible imbalance of shipping volumes in two directions. This imbalance is known as the backhaul problem. As transport firms attempt to avoid this problem, a tariff in one sector may affect other independent import and/or export sectors. In particular, domestic tariffs may backfire: domestic exports may also decrease, harming domestic export sectors and the domestic economy. This finding contributes to the literature on how import liberalization may generate a positive effect on the liberalizing country's exports by identifying a new channel through endogenous changes in transport costs given the backhaul problem. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.