Has Globalization Gone Far Enough? ― The Costs of Fragmented Markets

This study considers what would happen if remaining barriers to integration in international goods markets were eliminated. Bradford (economics, Brigham Young U.) and Lawrence (trade and investment, Harvard U.) examine price data from eight industrial countries Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US to reveal considerable international market fragmentation. They then argue that efficiency gains from integration among these countries, accompanied by removal of their remaining tariff barriers, would significantly raise the global GDP. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Scott C. Bradford was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute. He is an assistant professor at the department of economics, Brigham Young University. His research interests include international trade, political economy, and the Japanese economy. His work has appeared in The American Economic Review, The Review of Economics and Statistics, and the Journal of International Economics.

Robert Z. Lawrence was a senior fellow and also the Albert L. Williams Professor of Trade and Investment at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He served as a member of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers from 1999 to 2000. He was the New Century Chair as a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution between 1997 and 1998.