Calendrier du 15 mai 2019
Economic History Seminar
Du 15/05/2019 de 12:30 à 14:00
Salle R1-09, Campus Jourdan, 48 boulevard Jourdan, 75014 Paris
HUBERMAN Michael (U.Montreal)
Against the Grain: Spanish Trade Policy in the Interwar Years
écrit avec Concha Betrán, University of Valencia
We study the effects of changes in Spanish trade policy on the margins of trade in the context of economic and political shocks external and internal to Spain in the interwar period. We have assembled a new granular data set on imports, as well as detailed product-level information on tariffs, trade agreements, quantitative controls, and other discriminatory practices. The establishment of the Republic in 1931, which gave voice to the emerging middle class, was a turning point in trade policy. The Republic abandoned policy principally designed to protect agriculture and cotton textiles for a less retaliatory and more accommodating stance that promoted bilateral exchanges of Spanish exports for foreign imports. This gave rise to large extensive margin. But Spain was hardpressed to find countries willing to exchange market access. In an unfavorable international environment, the Spanish case offers a cautionary tale of the perils of going against the grain.