[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/spmain/halshs-01101567.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Distortion effects of export quota policy: an analysis of the China-Raw Materials dispute

Author

Listed:
  • Christophe Charlier

    (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur)

  • Sarah Guillou

    (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po)

Abstract
The China-Raw Materials dispute recently arbitrated by the WTO opposed China as defendant to the US, the EU and Mexico as the claimants on the somewhat unusual issue of export restrictions on natural resources. For the claimants, Chinese export restrictions on various raw materials, of which the country is a major producer, create shortages in foreign markets increasing the prices of these goods. China defends export limitations by presenting them as a natural resource conserving policy. This paper offers a theoretical analysis of the dispute with the help of a model of a monopoly extracting a non-renewable resource and selling it on both the domestic and foreign markets. The theoretical results focus on the effects of imposing an export quota on quantities, prices and price distortion. Given the crucial importance of demand elasticities in this theoretical understanding of the conflict, the empirical part of the paper provides estimates of import demand elasticity of the parties for each product concerned in the case. The model and the empirical results challenge the ideas that an export quota always favors conservation of natural resource, that a higher foreign price necessarily follows this policy and that it inherently increases price distortion and therefore discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • Christophe Charlier & Sarah Guillou, 2014. "Distortion effects of export quota policy: an analysis of the China-Raw Materials dispute," SciencePo Working papers Main halshs-01101567, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:halshs-01101567
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2014.10.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jane Korinek & Jeonghoi Kim, 2010. "Export Restrictions on Strategic Raw Materials and Their Impact on Trade," OECD Trade Policy Papers 95, OECD Publishing.
    2. Dani Rodrik, 2006. "What's So Special about China's Exports?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, September.
    3. Baris Karapinar, 2012. "Defining the Legal Boundaries of Export Restrictions: A Case Law Analysis," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 443-479, June.
    4. Fan, Rui & Fang, Ying & Park, Sung Y., 2012. "Resource abundance and economic growth in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 704-719.
    5. Joelle Latina & Roberta Piermartini & Michele Ruta, 2011. "Natural resources and non-cooperative trade policy," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 177-196, June.
    6. Carolyn Fischer & Ramanan Laxminarayan, 2004. "Monopoly extraction of an exhaustible resource with two markets," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 178-188, February.
    7. Michele Ruta & Anthony J. Venables, 2012. "International Trade in Natural Resources: Practice and Policy," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 331-352, August.
    8. Chen, Baizhu & Feng, Yi, 2001. "Openness and trade policy in China: an industrial analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 323-341.
    9. Han-Wei Liu & John Maughan, 2012. "China's Rare Earths Export Quotas: Out of the China-Raw Materials Gate, But Past the WTO's Finish Line?," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 971-1005, December.
    10. Mick Silver, 2007. "Do Unit Value Export, Import, and Terms of Trade Indices Represent or Misrepresent Price Indices?," IMF Working Papers 2007/121, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    12. Bin GU, 2012. "Applicability of GATT Article XX in China -- Raw Materials: A Clash within the WTO Agreement," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 1007-1031, December.
    13. Mary Amiti & Caroline Freund, 2010. "The Anatomy of China's Export Growth," NBER Chapters, in: China's Growing Role in World Trade, pages 35-56, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Massari, Stefania & Ruberti, Marcello, 2013. "Rare earth elements as critical raw materials: Focus on international markets and future strategies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 36-43.
    15. Gordon H. Hanson, 2012. "The Rise of Middle Kingdoms: Emerging Economies in Global Trade," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 41-64, Spring.
    16. Roberts, Ivan & Rush, Anthony, 2012. "Understanding China's demand for resource imports," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 566-579.
    17. William Hauk, 2012. "U.S. import and export elasticities: a panel data approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 73-96, August.
    18. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1976. "Monopoly and the Rate of Extraction of Exhaustible Resources," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(4), pages 655-661, September.
    19. Collier Paul & Venables Anthony J., 2010. "International Rules for Trade in Natural Resources," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 1-19, January.
    20. Dani Rodrik, 2010. "Making Room for China in the World Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 89-93, May.
    21. Hiau Looi Kee & Alessandro Nicita & Marcelo Olarreaga, 2008. "Import Demand Elasticities and Trade Distortions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 666-682, November.
    22. Jeonghoi Kim, 2010. "Recent Trends in Export Restrictions," OECD Trade Policy Papers 101, OECD Publishing.
    23. Baltagi, Badi H. & Wu, Ping X., 1999. "Unequally Spaced Panel Data Regressions With Ar(1) Disturbances," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(6), pages 814-823, December.
    24. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    25. Irving B. Kravis & Robert E. Lipsey, 1971. "Price Competitiveness in World Trade," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number krav71-1.
    26. Bown, Chad P. & McCulloch, Rachel, 2009. "U.S.-Japan and U.S.-China trade conflict: Export growth, reciprocity, and the international trading system," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 669-687, November.
    27. Barbara Fliess & Tarja Mård, 2012. "Taking Stock of Measures Restricting the Export of Raw Materials: Analysis of OECD Inventory Data," OECD Trade Policy Papers 140, OECD Publishing.
    28. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Seiler, Volker, 2024. "The relationship between Chinese and FOB prices of rare earth elements – Evidence in the time and frequency domain," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 160-179.
    2. Ronen, Eyal & Dawar, Kamala, 2016. "How Necessary? A Comparison of Legal and Economic Assessments GATT Dispute Settlements under: Article XX(b), TBT 2.2 and SPS 5.6," MPRA Paper 83834, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Proelss, Juliane & Schweizer, Denis & Seiler, Volker, 2020. "The economic importance of rare earth elements volatility forecasts," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Seiler, Volker, 2021. "China-to-FOB price transmission in the rare earth elements market and the end of Chinese export restrictions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p504jih2g is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p504jih2g is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p504jih2g is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p504jih2g is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Davide Consoli & Francesco Vona & Francesco Rentocchini, 2016. "That was then, this is now: skills and routinization in the 2000s," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(5), pages 847-866.
    6. Fu, Xiaolan & Kaplinsky, Raphael & Zhang, Jing, 2012. "The Impact of China on Low and Middle Income Countries’ Export Prices in Industrial-Country Markets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1483-1496.
    7. Solleder, Jean-Marc, 2020. "Market power and export taxes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Sasaki, Yuya & Xin, Yi, 2017. "Unequal spacing in dynamic panel data: Identification and estimation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 196(2), pages 320-330.
    9. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/2ajduu0gqt9ho8h2tavbin6ops is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Derek Jones & Panu Kalmi & Mikko Mäkinen, 2010. "The productivity effects of stock option schemes: evidence from Finnish panel data," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 67-80, February.
    11. Mallick, Sushanta & Marques, Helena, 2016. "Pricing strategy of emerging market exporters in alternate currency regimes: The role of comparative advantage," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 68-81.
    12. Daniel L. Millimet & Ian K. McDonough, 2017. "Dynamic Panel Data Models With Irregular Spacing: With an Application to Early Childhood Development," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 725-743, June.
    13. Gazi Hassan & Arusha Cooray & Mark Holmes, 2017. "The effect of female and male health on economic growth: cross-country evidence within a production function framework," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 659-689, March.
    14. Terence J. V. Saldanha & Arvin Sahaym & Sunil Mithas & Mariana Giovanna Andrade-Rojas & Abhishek Kathuria & Hsiao-Hui Lee, 2020. "Turning Liabilities of Global Operations into Assets: IT-Enabled Social Integration Capacity and Exploratory Innovation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 361-382, June.
    15. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm & Roberts, Michael, 2015. "Aid for trade, foreign direct investment and export upgrading in recipient countries," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2015-10, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    16. Canh Phuc Nguyen & Thanh Dinh Su, 2021. "Export quality dynamics: Multidimensional evidence of financial development," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 2319-2343, August.
    17. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2ajduu0gqt9ho8h2tavbin6ops is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Burak Sencer Atasoy, 2021. "The determinants of export sophistication: Does digitalization matter?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5135-5159, October.
    19. Serhan Cevik, 2017. "Size matters: fragmentation and vertical fiscal imbalances in Moldova," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(2), pages 367-381, May.
    20. Barabas, György & Kitlinski, Tobias & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Schmidt, Torsten & Siemers, Lars-H. & Brilon, Werner, 2010. "Verkehrsinfrastrukturinvestitionen: Wachstumsaspekte im Rahmen einer gestaltenden Finanzpolitik. Endbericht - Januar 2010. Forschungsprojekt im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums der Finanzen. Projektnumm," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 72601.
    21. Daniel Graham & Kurt Dender, 2011. "Estimating the agglomeration benefits of transport investments: some tests for stability," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 409-426, May.
    22. Mr. Serhan Cevik, 2014. "Fragmentation and Vertical Fiscal Imbalances Lessons from Moldova," IMF Working Papers 2014/233, International Monetary Fund.
    23. Elbahnasawy, Nasr G., 2014. "E-Government, Internet Adoption, and Corruption: An Empirical Investigation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 114-126.
    24. Aykut Karakaya & Ayten Turan Kurtaran & Ahmet Kurtaran, 2017. "Firm Value and External Financing Needs," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(6), pages 69-81, June.
    25. Daniel Ştefan Armeanu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2017. "Empirical Study towards the Drivers of Sustainable Economic Growth in EU-28 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, December.
    26. Youngho Kang & Byung-Yeon Kim, 2018. "Immigration and economic growth: do origin and destination matter?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(46), pages 4968-4984, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Export restrictions; WTO; Exhaustible natural resources; Price discrimination; Article XX of the GATT 1994;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • K33 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - International Law
    • Q37 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Issues in International Trade

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:halshs-01101567. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Contact - Sciences Po Departement of Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.