Publication: Bairoch revisited : tariff structure and growth in the late 19th century
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2008-03
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Abstract
This paper revisits Bairoch’s hypothesis that tariffs were positively associated
with growth in the late 19th century, as confirmed recently by a new generation
of quantitative studies (see O`Rourke (2000), Jacks (2006) and Clements-
Williamson (2002, 2004)). This paper highlights the importance of the structure
of protection in the relation between trade policy and growth and its potential
growth-promoting impact. Evidence is based in a new data base on industrial
tariffs for the 1870`s. First results, based on these findings, show that
protection was only positive for a “rich club” if we include in this group New
Settler countries which grew rapidly in the late 19th century. Leaving out these
countries, which protected mainly for fiscal reasons, the evidence shows that
more protection, indicated by total average and manufacture tariff average,
implied more un-skilled inefficient protection and less growth and this is
especially true for the poor countries in the late 19th century.
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Tariffs and growth, Tariff structure, Late 19th Century