The Roots of Latin American Protectionism: Looking Before the Great Depression / John H. Coatsworth, Jeffrey G. Williamson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Coatsworth, John H.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Williamson, Jeffrey G.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w8999.

NBER working paper series no. w8999

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

The Roots of Latin American Protectionism

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2002.

Summary:

This paper uncovers a fact that has not been well appreciated: tariffs in Latin America were far higher than anywhere else in the century before the Great Depression. This is a surprising fact given that this region has been said to have exploited globalization forces better than most during the pre-1914 belle epoque and for which the Great Depression has always been viewed as a critical policy turning point towards protection and de-linking from the world economy. This paper shows that the explanation cannot lie with output gains from protection, since, while such gains were present in Europe and its non-Latin offshoots, they were not present in Latin America. The paper then explores Latin American tariffs as a revenue source, as a protective device for special interests, and as the result of other political economy struggles. We conclude by asking whether the same pro-protection conditions exist today as those which existed more than a century ago.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2002.