Unilateral Trade Liberalization and Hong Kong: Theory, History and Political Economy
UC Santa Cruz Economics Working Paper No. 413
Posted: 11 Sep 1998
Date Written: July 1998
Abstract
Hong Kong is often perceived to be a pure model of unilateral free trade. We argue here that in a era when services are internationally tradable and when Hong Kong has become mainly a service economy, this perception is not entirely true. Nonetheless, Hong Kong is basically able to fend off the pressures of most special interest groups and is still among the freest economies in the world. We discuss further in the paper various possible reasons why Hong Kong escapes from the effects of trade policy lobbying. Given the history and institutions of Hong Kong, we also construct a simple model that attempt to capture the features of trade policy in Hong Kong.
JEL Classification: F13, F14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation