The Race to the Bottom, From the Bottom

Nancy Chau and Ravi Kanbur

No 127681, Working Papers from Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management

Abstract: The dominant perspective in discussions of labor and environmental standards and globalization is that of North-South competition and its impact on Northern standards. This paper presents an alternative perspective, that of South-South competition to export to the North, and its impact on Southern standards. It develops a simple model of Southern competition on standards, which can begin to provide insights into some key questions. A Southern race to the bottom is possible but not inevitable. It depends intricately on the Northern demand curve, the size of big exporters relative to each other, and the relative size of the competitive fringe of small exporters { a precise and complete characterization is developed in the paper. The paper also analyzes the e®ect of Northern tari®s on Southern strategic competition in standards. It is shown that Northern trade protectionism undermines Southern standards.

Keywords: Food; Security; and; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55
Date: 2000-11
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/127681/files/Cornell_Dyson_wp0016.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Race to the Bottom, from the Bottom (2006)
Working Paper: The Race To the Bottom, From the Bottom (2001)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:cudawp:127681

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.127681

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