University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business Zagreb
Abstract
In this paper, author examine the issue of the optimal tariff in circumstances in which trade between the ‘North’ (a developed country) and the ‘South’ (a developing country) takes place. Firms compete in quantities (‘Cournot competition’) in an imperfectly competitive Northern market. In addition, there are leakages of technological knowledge (‘spillovers’) from the North to the South. The interaction between tariffs and spillovers, together with its consequences for the social welfare of the North, is the focus of the paper. Another closely related motivation of this paper stems from the observation that the so called punitive tariffs are being used as device to punish violators of intellectual property rights
