Economics Department

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TITLE:
Trade Reform Diagnostics with Many Households, Quotas, and Tariffs

AUTHOR(S):
James E. Anderson, Boston College

DOCUMENT TYPE: Article

ABSTRACT:
The desirability of trade reform paired with revenue neutral changes in other distortionary taxes is an empirical question. With a particular Computable General Equilibrium model of an economy, particular reforms can be evaluated, but the robustness of conclusions is suspect; they depend on a particular specification and parameterization of the model economy. This paper provides a diagnostic toolkit which permits sensitivity analysis across model specifications and parameterizations. Novel elements are an emphasis on the concept of compensated Marginal Cost of Funds (MCF), development of the MCF of quotas and analysis of the relationship between aggregate MCF and social welfare.