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Abstract
We develop a political economy model of trade agreements following along the line of
Grossman and Helpman (1995a) yet incorporating contracting costs, uncertainty and
multiple policy instruments. We show that rent-seeking efforts do not affect tariff
rates as they are offset by the substitution effect of domestic production subsidies.
Similar to Horn et al (2010), we find the coexistence of uncertainty and contracting
costs make optimal trade agreements incomplete contracts. Our model helps explain
differential treatment on subsidies, countervailing duties, and the national treatment principle - all key provisions of the current WTO agreement.