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Strategic Trade Policy

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Abstract

Strategic trade policy refers to trade policy that affects the outcome of strategic interactions between firms in an actual or potential international oligopoly. A main idea is that trade policies can raise domestic welfare by shifting profits from foreign to domestic firms. A well-known application is the strategic use of export subsidies, but import tariffs as well as subsidies to R&D or investment for firms facing global competition can also have strategic effects. Since intervention by more than one government can lead to a Prisoner’s Dilemma, the theory emphasizes the importance of trade agreements that restrict such interventions.

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Spencer, B.J., Brander, J.A. (2018). Strategic Trade Policy. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2264

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