Hostname: page-component-788cddb947-pt5lt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-08T09:25:35.690Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Bairoch revisited: tariff structure and growth in the late nineteenth century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

ANTONIO TENA-JUNGUITO*
Affiliation:
Department of Economic History and Institutions, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, C/. Madrid 126-28 903 Getafe, Madrid, antonio.tena@uc3m.es
Get access

Abstract

This article revisits Bairoch's hypothesis that in the late nineteenth century tariffs were positively associated with growth, as recently confirmed by a new generation of quantitative studies (see O'Rourke 2000; Jacks 2006; Clemens and Williamson 2002, 2004). This article highlights the importance of the structure of protection in the relation between trade policy and its potential growth-promoting impact. Evidence is based on a new database on industrial tariffs for the 1870s. The results show that income, factor endowment and policy independence are important for explaining regional asymmetries between tariffs and growth. At a global level, increased protection, measured by total and average tariffs on manufactures, implied more unskilled inefficient protection and less growth, and this is especially true for the poor countries in the late nineteenth century. Protection was only positive for a ‘rich club’ if we include in this group new settler countries, which grew rapidly in the late nineteenth century and imposed high tariffs mainly for fiscal reasons.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © European Historical Economics Society 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antweiler, W. and Trefler, D. (2002). Increasing returns and all that: a view from trade. American Economic Review, 92, pp. 93119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bairoch, P. (1972). Free trade and European economic development in the 19th century. European Economic Review, 3, pp. 211–45.Google Scholar
Bairoch, P. (1976). Commerce exteriour et development economique de l'Europe au XIX siècle. Paris and The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Bairoch, P. (1989). European trade policy, 1815–1914. In Mathias, P. and Pollard, S. (eds.), The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, vol. VIII: The Industrial Economies: The Development of Economic and Social Policies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.160.Google Scholar
Bairoch, P. (1996). Economics and World History. Brighton: Havester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
Beltran, C., Ferri, J. and Pons, M. A. (2007. Wage inequality and globalisation: what can we learn from the past? A general equalibrium approach. FUNCAS Working Paper, no. 352.Google Scholar
Board of trade (1905). The comparative incidence of foreign and colonial import tariffs on the principal classes of manufactures exported from the United Kingdom. British Parliamentary Papers, LXXXIV, pp. 280–320.Google Scholar
Bértola, L. and Williamson, J. (2006). Globalization in Latin America before 1940. In Bulmer-Thomas, V., Coatsworth, J. and Cortés Conde, R. (eds.), The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America, vol. II: The Long Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Clemens, M. A. and Williamson, J. G. (2001). A tariff growth paradox? Protection's impact on the world around 1875–1997. NBER Working Paper Series, 8459.Google Scholar
Clemens, M. A. and Williamson, J. G. (2004). Why did the tariff–growth correlation reverse after 1950? Journal of Economic Growth, 9 (1), pp. 546.Google Scholar
Coatsworth, J. and Williamson, G. J. (2004). Always protectionist? Latin American tariffs from independence to Great Depression. Journal of Latin American Studies, 36 (2), pp. 205–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Long, B. (1995). Trade policy and American standard of living: a historical perspective. Mimeo: University California Berkeley, sixth draft.Google Scholar
Dejong, D. and Ripoll, M. (2006). Tariffs and growth: an empirical exploration of contingent relationships. Review of Economics and Statistics, 88 (4), pp. 625–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, S. (1992). Trade orientation, distortions and growth in developing countries. Journal of Development Economics. 39, pp. 3157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, S. (1998). Openness, productivity and growth: what do we really know? Economic Journal, 108, pp. 383–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federico, G. and Tena, A. (1991). On the accuracy of international foreign trade statistics (1909–1935): Morgenstern revisited. Explorations in Economic History, 28 (3), pp. 259–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federico, G. and Tena, A. (1998). Was Italy a protectionist country? European Review of Economic History, 2 (1), pp. 7397.Google Scholar
Federico, G. and Tena, A. (1999). Did trade policy foster Italian industrialization: evidence from the effective protection rates 1870–1930. Research in Economic History, 19, pp. 111–38.Google Scholar
Findlay, R. and O'Rourke, H. (2007). Power and Plenty. Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldin, C. and Katz, L. F. (1999). The returns to skill in the United States across the twentieth century. NBER Working Papers, 7126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossmann, G. M. and Helpman, E. (1991). Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Grossmann, G. M. and Helpman, E. (1994). Protection for sale. American Economic Review, 84 (4), pp. 833–50.Google Scholar
Grossmann, G. M. and Helpman, E. (2001). Special Interest Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Irwin, D. A. (2001). Tariffs and growth in late nineteenth century America. The World Economy, 24, pp. 1530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Irwin, D. A. (2002a). Did import substitution promote growth in late nineteenth century. NBER Working Papers, W8751.Google Scholar
Irwin, D. A. (2002b). Interpreting the tariff-growth correlation in the late nineteenth century. American Economic Review (Papers & Proceedings) 92, pp. 165–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Irwin, D. A. and Klenow, P. J. (1994). Learning-by-doing spillovers in the semiconductor industry. Journal of Political Economy, 102, pp. 1200–27.Google Scholar
Irwin, D. A. and Tervio, M. (2002c). Does trade raise income? Evidence from the twentieth century. Journal of International Economics, 58, pp. 118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacks, D. S. (2006). New results on the tariff-growth paradox. European Review of Economic History, 10, pp. 205–30.Google Scholar
Krueger, A. (1974). The political economy of the rent seeking society. American Economic Review, 64, pp. 291303.Google Scholar
Krueger, A. (1997). Trade policy and economic development: how we learn. American Economic Review, 87 (1), pp. 122.Google Scholar
League of Nations (1927). Tariff Levels. Indices. Geneva, pp. 1–38.Google Scholar
Lehman, S. H. and O'Rourke, K. S. (2008). The structure of protection and growth in the late 19th century. NBER Working Papers, 14493.Google Scholar
Lewis, W. A. (1978). Growth and Fluctuations, 1870–1913. Boston: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Liepman, H. (1938). Tariff Levels and the Economic Unity of Europe. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Maddison, A. (2001). The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective. Paris: Development Centre of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.Google Scholar
Maddison, A. (2003). The World Economy: Historical Statistics. Paris: Development Centre of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magee, C. (2002). Endogenous trade policy and lobby formation: an application to the free rider problem. Journal of International Economics, 57 (2), pp. 449–71.Google Scholar
Magee, S., Brock, W. and Young, L. (1989). Black Hole Tariffs and Endogenous Policy Theory: Political Economy in Equilibrium. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Milward, A. S. and Soul, S. B. (1977). The Development of the Economies of Continental Europe, 1850–1914. London: George Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Nunn, N. and Trefler, D. (2006). Putting the lid on lobbying: tariff structure and long-term growth when protection is for sale. NBER Working Papers, 12164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Rourke, K. (1997a). The European grain invasion, 1870–1913. Journal of Economic History, 57, pp. 775801.Google Scholar
O'Rourke, K. (2000). Tariffs and growth in the late 19th century. Economic Journal, 110, pp. 456–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Rourke, K. and Williamson, J. G. (1999). Globalization and History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Polity IV Project. Developed by Inter-University for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the University of Colorado and is housed at the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland, College Park, www.cidcm.umd.edu/polity/Google Scholar
Pollard, S. (1982). Peaceful Conquest. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rodriguez, F. and Rodrik, D. (2000). Trade policy and economic growth: a sceptic's guide to the cross-national evidence. NBER Macroeconomics Annual, 15, 261325.Google Scholar
Rodrik, D., Subranium, A. and Trebi, F. (2002). Institutions rule: the primacy of institutions over geography and integration in economic development. CEPR Discussion Papers, 3643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Routh, G. (1985). Occupation and Pay in Great Britain 1906–1979, 2nd edn. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Sachs, J. D. and Warner, A. M. (1999). The big rush, natural resource booms and growth. Journal of Development Economics, 59 (1), 4376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheuch, F. H. S. (1885). Labour in Europe, vol. 2: A Report from the US Consul in Spain in 1885.Google Scholar
Tena-Junguito, A. (1992). Las estadísticas históricas del comercio internacional (1890–1960): fiabilidad y comparabilidad (Estudios de Historia Económica, no. 24). Madrid: Banco de España.Google Scholar
Tena-Junguito, A. (1999, 2006). Un nuevo perfil del proteccionismo español durante la Restauración 1875–1930. Revista de Historia Económica, 17 (3), 579621. Translated as ‘Spanish protectionism during the Restauración 1875–1930’ in J.-P. Dormois and P. Lains (eds.), Classical Trade Protectionism 1815–1914: Fortress Europe. London and New York: Routledge (Explorations in Economic History), pp. 265–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tena-Junguito, A. (2005). The good reputation of late XIX century protectionism: manufacture versus total protection in the European tariff growth debate. Paper presented to the 6th Conference of EHES, Istanbul, 9 September 2005.Google Scholar
Tena-Junguito, A. (2006). Assessing the protectionist intensity of tariffs in nineteenth-century European trade policy. In Dormois, J.-P. and Lains, P. (eds.), Classical Trade Protectionism 1815–1914: Fortress Europe (Explorations in Economic History). London and New York, Routledge, pp. 99120.Google Scholar
Trefler, D. (1993). Trade liberalization and the theory of endogenous protection: an econometric study of US import policy. Journal of Political Economy, 101 (1), pp. 138–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, J. (2006a). Explaining world tariffs 1870–1938: Stolper-Samuelson, strategic tariffs and state revenues. In Findlay, R., Henriksson, R., Lindgren, H. and Lundahl, M. (eds.), Eli F. Heckscher, International Trade, and Economic History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, J. (2006b). Globalization, de-industrialization and underdevelopment in the third world before the modern era. Revista de Historia Económica. Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 1, pp. 936.Google Scholar
Vamvakidis, A. (2002). How robust is the growth-openness connection? Historical evidence. Journal of Economic Growth, 7, pp. 5780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar