關稅調升與市場結構

Abstract

This paper reexamines the issue of tariff escalation from the aspect of rent extraction. Based on imperfect competition markets that allow the government to impose tariffs to extract rents from the foreign firm, this paper shows that both developed and developing countries seeking for national welfare maximization may adopt the tariff escalation policy, depending on the effective wages in the exporting and importing countries, and on the market structure for the final good in the importing countries. Given the market structure, the possibility to adopt the policy by the importing countries increases if the effective wages in both trading countries are closer. As the market structure becomes more competitive, the possibility to adopt the policy decreases. If the market is perfectly competitive, the policy is adopted only when the effective wage in the importing countries is greater than that in the exporting countries.