DP3294 Commercial Policy Variability, Bindings and Market Access

Author(s):	Joseph Francois, Will Martin
Publication Date:	April 2002
Keyword(s):	commercial policy uncertainty, expected costs of protection, market access, WTO tariff bindings
JEL(s):	F10, F13, F17
Programme Areas:	International Trade and Regional Economics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=3294

Protection unconstrained by rules often varies substantially over time. Rules-based disciplines, such as WTO tariff bindings and bindings on market access in services, constrain this variability. We examine the theoretical effects of such constraints on the expected cost of protection and offer a formalization of the concept of ?market access?, emphasizing both the first and second moments of the distribution of protection. As an illustration, we provide a stylized examination of Uruguay Round bindings on wheat.