Commercial Imperialism? Political Influence and Trade During the Cold War

We provide evidence that increased political influence, arising from CIA interventions during the Cold War, was used to create a larger foreign market for American products. Following CIA interventions, imports from the US increased dramatically, while total exports to the US were unaffected. The su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American economic review Vol. 103; no. 2; pp. 863 - 896
Main Authors Berger, Daniel, Easterly, William, Nunn, Nathan, Satyanath, Shanker
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Nashville American Economic Association 01.04.2013
Subjects
Coefficients
Cold War
Comparative advantage
Democracy
Economic aid
Economic analysis
Exporters
Foreign markets
Government
Government intervention
Gross domestic product
Imperialism
Imports
Industry
International trade
Intervention
Political behavior
Political economy
Political ideology
Political influences
Political power
Politics
Studies
Trade
U.S.A
US exports
United States > US
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Summary:We provide evidence that increased political influence, arising from CIA interventions during the Cold War, was used to create a larger foreign market for American products. Following CIA interventions, imports from the US increased dramatically, while total exports to the US were unaffected. The surge in imports was concentrated in industries in which the US had a comparative disadvantage, not a comparative advantage. Our analysis is able to rule out decreased trade costs, changing political ideology, and an increase in US loans and grants as alternative explanations. We provide evidence that the increased imports arose through direct purchases of American products by foreign governments.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981
DOI:10.1257/aer.103.2.863