Multilateral Trade Bargaining: a First Look at the GATT Bargaining Records

71 Pages Posted: 25 Aug 2015 Last revised: 18 Sep 2024

See all articles by Kyle Bagwell

Kyle Bagwell

Stanford University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Robert W. Staiger

Stanford University; University of Wisconsin - Madison - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Ali Yurukoglu

Stanford Graduate School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: August 2015

Abstract

This paper empirically examines recently declassified data from the GATT/WTO on tariff bargaining. We document eight stylized facts about these interconnected high-stakes international negotiations. We use detailed product-level offer and counteroffer data to examine several questions about trade policy, including whether preferential tariffs were a stumbling block towards liberalization, and whether the relaxation of bilateral reciprocity to multilateral reciprocity aided liberalization. We organize the empirical analysis around a theoretical model of multi-party trade negotiations motivated by the terms-of-trade theory and respecting the institutional features of most-favored-nation status and reciprocity.

Suggested Citation

Bagwell, Kyle and Staiger, Robert W. and Yurukoglu, Ali, Multilateral Trade Bargaining: a First Look at the GATT Bargaining Records (August 2015). NBER Working Paper No. w21488, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2649754

Kyle Bagwell (Contact Author)

Stanford University - Department of Economics ( email )

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Robert W. Staiger

Stanford University ( email )

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University of Wisconsin - Madison - Department of Economics ( email )

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Ali Yurukoglu

Stanford Graduate School of Business ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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