Economic Growth and Optimal Tariffs

• Main Authors: Yih-Shan Tsay, 蔡易珊
• Other Authors: Ching-Chong Lai
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/30596311130242953375

碩士 === 臺灣大學 === 經濟學研究所 === 98 === This thesis is written for two purposes. The first purpose is trace the optimal consumption tariff rate for a small country featuring both production externalities proposed by Barro (1990) and labor externalities proposed by Benhabib-Farmer (1994). We have found the following main results: (i) the optimal tariff would be positive if and only if the distortion of government infrastructure expenditure exists; (ii) the optimal tariff rate would be higher when the monopoly power of intermediate goods market is stronger; (iii) tariff is growth-neutral and has an ambiguous effect on labor employment. The second propose is to discuss the possibility of indeterminacy. We have shown that, dissimilar with Benhabib-Farmer (1994), local indeterminacy would occur in the dynamic system no matter when the elasticity of labor output is larger or low sufficiently.