168 research outputs found
Non-tariff measures and competitiveness
In this paper, we explore how tariff and standard-like Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) introduced by the EU are related with market conditions in domestic EU markets. While Tariffs work as a pure tax on import, standard-like NTMs potentially affect costs of both domestic firms and foreign exporters. NTMs may not necessarily work as protectionist measures and even induce pro-competitive effects in the domestic market in the longer term, especially if we allow for firms mobility. The impact could be different for large and small firms. We extend the model by Melitz and Ottaviano (2008) to include Non-Tariff barriers. We derive some testable implications relating Non-Tariff barriers to the number of firms selling in the domestic market and average efficiency. The link between NTMs and domestic market conditions depends on whether they involve new standards and technical specifications imposed on both domestic and foreign firms, or, rather, the extension to foreign firms of standards and technical specifications already adopted by domestic firms. In the first case, there is a decline in the number of firms and in average productivity; in the second case, NTMs induce pro-competitive effects: an increase in the number of firms and of average productivity. We then take the model to the data for a group of European countries and manufacturing industries. We combine Compnet data for 15 EU countries in 2001-2012, providing information on firms performance at the industry level and by size class, with the STC WTO-I-TIP database, with information on Specific Trade Concerns raised at the WTO on NTMs and with the Trains database with information on Tariffs. The NTMs that we consider have similar effects as in the second NTMs case in the theoretical model; the results for Tariff are in the same direction, albeit of a larger magnitude. These results are consistent with a theoretical framework allowing for firms mobility in the longer term
Green Consumers, Greenwashing and the Misperception of Environmental Quality
In this paper we analyse a setup where consumers are heterogeneous in the perception of environmental quality. The equilibrium is verified in a setting with horizontal and vertical (green) differentiation. Profits are increasing in the misperception of quality, while, the investment in green quality decreases the more the goods are substitutes. We further consider the introduction of either an emission tax or an environmental standard. The former rises the investment in environmental quality due to the higher cost of production, whereas in equilibrium quality always improves after the introduction of the latter. We show that an optimal environmental standard is an effective regulatory instrument against greenwashing and that the efficacy of the interventions is conditioned to the damage distribution and the aggregate level of emission
Non-tariff measures and competitiveness
In this paper, we explore how tariff and standard-like Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) introduced
by the EU are related with market conditions in domestic EU markets. While Tariffs work as a pure
tax on import, standard-like NTMs potentially affect costs of both domestic firms and foreign
exporters. NTMs may not necessarily work as protectionist measures and even induce pro-competitive
effects in the domestic market in the longer term, especially if we allow for firms mobility. The
impact could be different for large and small firms. We extend the model by Melitz and Ottaviano
(2008) to include Non-Tariff barriers. We derive some testable implications relating Non-Tariff
barriers to the number of firms selling in the domestic market and average efficiency. The link
between NTMs and domestic market conditions depends on whether they involve new standards and
technical specifications imposed on both domestic and foreign firms, or, rather, the extension to
foreign firms of standards and technical specifications already adopted by domestic firms. In the
first case, there is a decline in the number of firms and in average productivity; in the second
case, NTMs induce pro-competitive effects: an increase in the number of firms and of average
productivity. We then take the model to the data for a group of European countries and
manufacturing industries. We combine Compnet data for 15 EU countries in 2001-2012, providing
information on firms performance at the industry level and by size class, with the STC WTO-I-TIP
database, with information on Specific Trade Concerns raised at the WTO on NTMs and with the Trains
database with information on Tariffs. The NTMs that we consider have similar effects as in the
second NTMs case in the theoretical model; the results for Tariff are in the same direction, albeit
of a larger magnitude. These results are consistent with a theoretical framework allowing for firms
mobility in the longer term
Newspapers ’ market shares and the theory of the circulation spiral
We consider a model of daily newspapers ’ competition to test the validity of the so called “theory of the circulation spiral”. According to it, the interaction between the newspapers and the advertising markets drives the newspaper with the smaller readership into a vicious circle, finally leading it to death. In a modelwith two newspapers, we show that, contrary to this conjecture, the dynamics envisaged by the proposers of the theory, does not always lead to the elimination of one of them
- …