Tariff pass-through and the distributional effects of trade liberalization

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ural Marchand, Beyza
• 署名单位: University of Alberta
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.02.004
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 265-281
• 关键词: trade liberalization; pass-through; wages; INDIA; Welfare distribution

摘要

This paper estimates the distribution of welfare gains due to the trade reforms in India by simultaneously considering the effect on prices of tradable goods and wages. The cost of consumption for each household is affected by the domestic price changes, while wage incomes adjust to these price changes in equilibrium. Three rounds of the Indian Employment and Consumption Surveys are used for the analysis. The price transmission mechanisms are estimated for both rural and urban areas to understand the extent to which the trade reforms are able to affect the domestic prices. In order to assess the distributional effects, a series of nonparametric local linear regressions are estimated. The findings show that households at all per capita expenditure levels had experienced gains as a result of the trade liberalization, while the average effect was generally pro-poor and varied significantly across the per capita expenditure spectrum. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.