Three essays on Chilean trade policy.

摘要

The first chapter of this dissertation studies the rationale and performance of the uniform tariff policy that has been in Chile since June 1979. Uniform tariffs sought to minimize government intervention in the economy and constituted a well-conceived mechanism to neutralize domestic pressure groups. Although this policy was not a complete defense against eventual surges of protectionism, it facilitated unilateral liberalization through discrete tariff reductions over time. Moreover, the data analyzed do not reveal any significant correlation between the actual performance of a given sub-sector and its level of protection prevailing before uniform tariffs were implemented. These results are relevant considering that, historically, the industrial sector had enjoyed the highest levels of protection and thus appeared to be especially vulnerable to a policy of low uniform tariffs.; Starting in 1990 Chile became an enthusiastic practitioner of economic integration through the negotiation of free trade agreements. The second chapter studies the motives behind this strategy and contrasts them with the results observed up to present. Using a partial equilibrium model we find that the final balance for Chile is not encouraging. In addition, given that agreements have mostly been negotiated with other developing countries, several important non-traditional gains from integration have not yet appeared. Finally, the chapter presents evidence on how the attention devoted to integration by economic authorities diverted their energies and enthusiasm from further unilateral reforms. This later result constitutes an alert signal of the costs that may be incurred by developing countries that have embraced integration policies and still have important domestic reforms pending.; The third chapter explores the main determinants of Chile's bilateral trade flows during the 1990s. The results present evidence that gravity determinants have an important influence in explaining the geographic distribution of Chilean trade. The estimated regressions also show that coincident with the negotiation of free trade agreements, Chilean exports increased towards "normal" levels only in the cases of Mexico and Canada. In contrast, exports to Argentina and Brazil have remained below their expected levels. Finally, the evidence presented supports the priority assigned by the Chilean government to the present negotiations with the US.