NONTARIFF MEASURES AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Nontariff Measures and International Trade includes 20 chapters authored by John Beghin and co-authors over the last 20 years on the economics of quality-standard like nontariff measures in the context of international trade. This book provides a coherent and comprehensive treatment of these nontariff measures, from their measurement to their effects on trade and welfare. In Part I, the authors use different perspectives to make the case that, unlike tariffs, quality-standard like nontariff measures are complex to measure and analyze and do not easily lead to general policy prescriptions. Then, Part II contains contributions on measurements of welfare and trade effects of nontariff measures, accounting for potential market imperfections. Part III presents chapters on the potential protectionism of nontariff measures when they are used to favor some economic agents over society. The last part presents cases studies of nontariff measures in different industries, markets, and countries.

John Beghin is the Marlin Cole Professor of International Agricultural Economics in the Economic Department and the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University (ISU). He is the former director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at ISU, which he led from 1999 to 2007. He is a leading scholar on agricultural trade policy analysis, with a long-term interest in non-tariff measures. He has held positions at North Carolina State University, the OECD Development Centre, the Institut National de Recherche Agronomique, the International Labor Office, and the University of Sydney. He has consulted for and received funding from various international and governmental agencies and private clients including the American Farm Bureau Federation, FAO, OECD, US Army Corps of Engineers, USAID, USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture, USDA Economic Research Service, US General Accountability Office, the US Grains Council, and the World Bank among others. He holds a PhD in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California, Berkeley. His research work has appeared in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Ecological Economics, Economic Enquiry, Economics Letters, Environment and Development Economics, European Review of Agricultural Economics, Food Policy, Health Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Land Economics, Oxford Economic papers, Review of Economics and Statistics, World Development, and The World Economy among other journals. He has also edited a number of books and special issues for academic journals.

• Provides a comprehensive treatment of standard-like nontariff measures from their potential protectionism, to their trade and welfare effects
• Discusses market imperfections and welfare-enhancing effects of these nontariff measures
• Draws policy implications and recommendations to improve market interventions with Nontariff Measuress and reduce their inherent cost