TY  - JOUR
AU  - Feenstra,Robert C.
AU  - Lewis,Tracy R.
AU  - McMillan,John
TI  - Designing Policies to Open Trade
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 3258
PY  - 1990
Y2  - February 1990
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3258
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3258.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Robert C. Feenstra
Department of Economics
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA  95616
Tel: 530/752-7022
Fax: 530/752-9382
E-Mail: rcfeenstra@ucdavis.edu

John McMillan
E-Mail: N/A user is deceased
AB  - In this paper we consider recent proposals to auction U.S. import quotas. using the funds so obtained to encourage relocation out of the protected industries. We argue that the information available to the government, or lack thereof, is a critical factor in understanding these policies. In a world or full information, it makes little sense to use auction quotas rather than tariffs. Similarly, it is unclear why an elaborate program of temporary protection is needed, rather than immediately opening trade and compensating people with an income transfer. When the government has Limited information, however, these policies become quite sensible and may even be optimal.
ER  -