The sources of protectionist drift in representative democracies

• Published in: European economic review Vol. 49; no. 7; pp. 1855 - 1876
• Main Authors: Laussel, Didier, Riezman, Raymond
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2005; Elsevier; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Series: European Economic Review
• Subjects: Candidates; Commercial policy; Elections; Electorate; International relations; International trade; Mathematical methods; Political economy; Protectionism; Studies; Tariffs; Trade models; Trade policy; Trade theory; F13; F10; Political economy; Tariffs; Commercial policy

We analyze a two country–two good model of international trade in which citizens in each country differ by their specific factor endowments. The trade policy in each country is set by the politician who has been elected by the citizens in a previous stage. Due to a delegation effect citizens general...