International Trade in Natural Resources: Practice and Policy

35 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2012

See all articles by Michele Ruta

Michele Ruta

Economic Research Division, WTO; Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Economics; International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Anthony J. Venables

University of Oxford; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 30, 2012

Abstract

Natural resources account for 20% of world trade, and dominate the exports of many countries. Policy is used to manipulate both international and domestic prices of resources, yet this policy is largely outside the disciplines of the WTO. The instruments used include export taxes, price controls, production quotas, and domestic producer and consumer taxes (equivalent to trade taxes if no domestic production is possible). We review the literature, and argue that the policy equilibrium is inefficient. This inefficiency is exacerbated by market failure in long run contracts for exploration and development of natural resources. Properly coordinated policy reforms offer an avenue to resource exporting and importing countries to overcome these inefficiencies and obtain mutual gains.

Keywords: natural resources, trade, export tax, tariff escalation, OPEC, WTO, terms of trade

JEL Classification: F100, F130, Q300

Suggested Citation

Ruta, Michele and Venables, Anthony J., International Trade in Natural Resources: Practice and Policy (March 30, 2012). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 3778, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2034818 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2034818

Michele Ruta

Economic Research Division, WTO ( email )

Rue de Lausanne 154
CH-1211 Geneva
Switzerland

HOME PAGE: http://www.iue.it/Personal/Fellows/MicheleRuta/Welcome.htm

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Economics ( email )

420 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
United States

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Anthony J. Venables (Contact Author)

University of Oxford ( email )

Mansfield Road
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 4AU
United Kingdom

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
92
Abstract Views
826
Rank
140,043
PlumX Metrics