TY  - JOUR
AU  - Anderson,James E.
AU  - Neary,J. Peter
TI  - The Mercantilist Index of Trade Policy
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 6870
PY  - 1999
Y2  - January 1999
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6870
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6870.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
James E. Anderson
Department of Economics
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Tel: 617/552-3691
Fax: 617/552-2308
E-Mail: james.anderson.1@bc.edu
AB  - This paper develops and characterizes an index of trade policy restrictiveness defined as the uniform tariff equivalent which maintains the same volume of trade as a given set of tariffs, quota, and domestic taxes and subsidies.  We relate this volume-equivalent index to the Trade Restrictiveness Index welfare-equivalent measure changes in the generalised mean and variance of the tariff schedule. Applications to international cross-section and time-series comparisons of trade policy show that the new index frequently gives a very different picture than do standard indexes.
ER  -