The Japanese Export Insurance Arrangements: Promotion or Subsidisation?

Jai S. Mah () and Chris Milner

The World Economy, 2005, vol. 28, issue 2, 231-241

Abstract: Japan has promoted its exports by reducing the risks accompanying overseas sales through short‐term facilities for exporters. Short‐term export insurance schemes operated in line with rules on minimum premia are not prohibited according to current international trade rules. The insured amount of underwriting has however grown steadily and the balance of accounts of export insurance has deteriorated over a sustained, ‘long‐term’ period. The Japanese government has supported the system by reinforcing its financial base. In the 1980s and 1990s, the amount of claims was almost three times higher than premium incomes. Although the Japanese government may have subsidised exporters through the export insurance system, such subsidisation is notionally at least in accordance with the current regulations of the global trading system. The multilateral trading system has included export insurances at premium rates inadequate for covering the long‐term operating costs and losses of the programmes in the list of export subsidies. The current Members of the WTO are obliged to abide by the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures which comprises the illustrative list of export subsidies. However, the Agreement also stipulates that export insurances consistent with the interest rate provisions of the OECD Arrangement should not be considered as an export subsidy. Therefore, provision of export insurances not prohibited by the WTO regulations may be considered by developing countries undergoing trade deficits as a means of export promotion. Japan has done similarly for the past half century.

Date: 2005
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2005.00680.x

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:worlde:v:28:y:2005:i:2:p:231-241

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0378-5920

Access Statistics for this article

The World Economy is currently edited by David Greenaway

More articles in The World Economy from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().