Market Integration and Market Efficiency under Seasonal Tariff Rate Quotas

Switzerland applies seasonal tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for the import of many fruits and vegetables during the domestic harvest season. We examine how this system affects the relationship between Italian and Swiss tomato prices and test for physical market integration and spatial equilibrium conditions over time. We use detailed, transaction‐based data on trade flows and trade costs and estimate an extended parity bounds model, following Barrett and Li (2002). We confirm that in the summer season, when TRQs are in place, markets are inefficient. While quota holders receive positive rents, the marginal rents for importers without quota shares are negative. This inhibits trade flows above the in‐quota import quantity allowed by TRQs. Hence, despite leading to inefficiencies and creating rents for importers, seasonal TRQs are effective in protecting domestic production against competing imports.     

Tariff quota administration in China's grain markets: An empirical assessment

In 2016, the U.S. launched a trade dispute against China at the World Trade Organization, arguing that China has been restricting its grain imports via tariff quota administration. Despite sharp criticisms by the U.S., the extent to which the grain imports were restricted in China remains largely unknown, primarily due to that China's grain import behaviors are still under-researched. The U.S. grain export sector might actually gain little from China's grain trade liberalization in the short run, since China has become less import dependent on the U.S. through the pursuit of import diversification. In this context, this article aims to quantify impacts of the tariff quota administration on China's grain imports from its trading partners. We calculate ad valorem tariff equivalents of the tariff quota administration and then estimate import demand elasticities using a source differentiated import demand model. We find that the tariff quota administration might have reduced China's quota fill rates for the grain commodities by 10–35% during 2013–2017. In particular, the U.S. wheat exports to China were largely negatively affected. We also find that the tariff quota administration in China acts like a variable import levy—its import restrictiveness varies negatively with world prices, leading to lower import demand elasticities.     

Detecting origin fraud with trade data: the case of U.S. honey imports*

Following the 2001 U.S. imposition of antidumping tariffs on imported honey from China and Argentina, industry press noted patterns of trade suggesting that honey was being transshipped to circumvent tariffs, origin fraud that was later uncovered in criminal cases. This article presents three approaches that use trade and production data to flag countries for possible instances of origin fraud and then compares these countries with those implicated in criminal cases and media reports. In our preferred empirical method, we also find that countries with higher corruption scores are more likely to show increases in suspicious trade patterns following the tariffs.     

What motivates volunteers to help at business events? Reciprocal altruism and reflexivity

Volunteering literature is yet to examine the motivations for helping at business events. This paper contributes to closing this research gap by on-the-ground investigation of volunteer motivations at business events. Drawing upon 22 volunteers from different business events in China, the results identify a variety of functional motives related to self-development. The analysis gives emphasis to the subjectivity and reflexivity with which individuals give meaning to their motivations and suggests that reciprocal altruism and reflexivity are evident among volunteers. This paper provides insights into the salience of business event volunteering and suggests implications for event organisers dealing with volunteers.     

Tariff pass‐through in the middle products model

I use the middle products model of Sanyal and Jones to study the pass‐through of a tariff on the price of non‐traded final goods. I extend their analysis by comparing the short‐run effect of the tariff, when all factors are immobile, with the effects when labor is mobile between all sectors. It is shown that the short‐run pass‐through may vary from zero to a magnified effect on the price of the final product, depending on the elasticities of substitution in consumption and production. The relative magnitude of these elasticities determines whether the pass‐through with labor mobility is greater or less than the short‐run pass‐through.     

Trade liberalisation and domestic brands: Evidence from China's accession to the WTO

In this paper, we examine how trade liberalisation affects firms' branding behaviours. We investigate this question with China's accession to the WTO in late 2001. We find that firms in sectors with large import tariff reductions discontinue more trademarks. Meanwhile, these firms file more trademark applications and their total number of effective trademarks increases after trade liberalisation. This growth in trademarks is mainly driven by large firms, as measured by the number of employees. In fact, small firms' applications and effective trademarks decline during trade liberalisation. It is also found that trademark applications are mainly filed for the traditionally non-dominant products of industries. We provide a conceptual model that incorporates the channels through which both passive and active responses occur.     

Citation footprints on the sands of time: An analysis of idea migrations in strategic management

We elucidate the intellectual progression of the strategic management field by examining knowledge flows to and from the Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) during the period 1980–2009. We provide a detailed mapping of the evolution of the intellectual structure of the field and identify its input‐output dependency relationships with other fields. Analysis of citation data using three analytic techniques: log‐multiplicative model, pathfinder analysis, and entropy analysis allow us to discern strategic management's influence on and engagement with other disciplines. The results show that, within the intellectual universe of strategic management, SMJ has played a central role, both as a source and storer of knowledge. We notice that, over time, there has been a decline in practitioner orientation, greater communication with finance and sociology, and increasing linkages with international business and entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymmetric trade protection leading not to productivity but to export share change

This article revisits a classical theme in economics, that is, the relationship between trade protection and economic performance, with an improved treatment of the endogeneity of tariffs and with consideration of alternative performance criteria. This paper also considers the effects of asymmetric protection, such as higher tariffs on consumer goods and lower tariffs on producer goods. Using sectoral data on Korean manufacturing during the period from 1967 to 1993, this study finds that the effect of trade protection by tariff tends to show up not in terms of total factor productivity but in terms of revealed comparative advantage and export shares of sectors. Such an effect tends to be greater in consumer goods, which are the main targets of promotion by higher tariffs. This study verifies the potentially positive role of tariffs under certain conditions, especially under discipline from world markets.     

The Utilisation of Trade Preferences for Developing Countries in the Agri‐food Sector

Both the European Union and the United States grant non‐reciprocal preferences to developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences as well as under several regional schemes. The benefits of these preferences have recently been questioned. Several authors have pointed out the under‐utilisation of these preferences due to the constraints attached. There have been claims that rules of origin requirements and administrative costs, as well as uncertainty on eventual eligibility, have deterred exporters from using preferential regimes. We calculate various indicators of the utilisation of preferences in the agricultural, food and fisheries sector. We conclude that only a very small proportion of the imports eligible for these preferences is actually exported outside a preferential regime. The rate of utilisation is therefore high. However, the flow of imports from the poorest countries remains very limited in spite of rather generous tariff preferences, which leads to questions over the overall impact of the preferential agreements. In addition, preferential regimes overlap, and in such cases some regimes are systematically preferred to others. We use econometric estimates of the (latent) cost of using a given preference to explain why particular regimes are used. We focus on possible explanations, such as the cumulation rules (that restrict the use of materials originating from other countries), fixed administrative costs and differences in the preferential margin.     

FTA,Exchange rate pass‐through and export price behavior – Lessons from the Australian dairy sector

The growing number of bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) alongside exchange rate volatility has raised a question on whether these affect exporters’ pricing behaviors, hence competitiveness. This study contributes to this topic by examining Australian dairy export price behavior across eight major markets taking into account the extent of pass‐through of exchange rate and tariff as well as FTAs between Australia and its trading partners. Commodity‐level dairy trade data from 1996 to 2016 and the feasible generalized least squares methods are employed. The study finds incomplete pass‐through at the industry level. The dairy export prices decrease by 1.7% if Australian dollar depreciates by 10%, while 10% tariff reduction is associated with 0.7% export price cut. Results at the commodity level show different pricing behaviors across destination and commodity markets. Overall, apart from the tariff effects, there is minimal evidence of the impacts of FTAs on dairy export prices.