French textile specialisation in long run perspective (1836–1938): trade policy as industrial policy

Stéphane Becuwe and Bertrand Blancheton
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Bertrand Blancheton: GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: This article concerns textile industry dynamics. Using a new database covering French international trade between 1836 and 1938, it focuses on France's specialisation in various textiles. It demonstrates, for the first time, the major influence of trade policy on the French textile trade during the first globalisation. Tariffs appear to be key factors in specialisation, measured by the Lafay Index and intra-industry trade in textiles. By analysing changes in tariffs between textile raw materials and finished textiles and decorrelation between tariffs, we show that an effective trade protection approach was applied by successive French governments in order to sustain the industrial competitiveness of textile firms. Such trade policy slowed down textile de-specialisation in silk and wool fabrics until World War One.

Keywords: France; international trade; Effective protection; specialisation; textile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Published in Business History, inPress, 62 (6), pp.891-914. ⟨10.1080/00076791.2018.1494732⟩

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Related works:
Working Paper: French Textile Specialisation in Long Run Perspective (1836-1938): Trade Policy as Industrial Policy (2016)
Working Paper: French textile specialization in long run perspective (1836-1938): Trade policy as industrial policy (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03124864

DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2018.1494732

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