The Costs of Trade Protectionism: Evidence from Spanish Firms and Non-Tariff Barriers
Aggregate exports growth in the absence of NTBs.
Abstract
The rise in non-tariff protectionist measures has been associated to the weakness in global trade over the last few years. We investigate the effect of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on exports growth over the period 2009-2013 using administrative data at the fi rm-product-destination level in Spain. According to our fi ndings, non-tariff protectionist measures signifi cantly reduce exports growth at the product-destination level. Moreover, NTBs also hinder exports growth at the fi rm level and negatively affect other fi rm outcomes such as productivity growth. In contrast, the impact of liberalizing non-tariff measures is not statistically significant.
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