Replication data for: The Perversity of Preferences: GSP and Developing Country Trade Policies,1976-2000

Developed countries maintain special tariff preferences, namely the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), for imports from developing countries. Critics highlight the underachieving nature of such preferences, but we know little about how they affect recipients’ own trade policies. We conduct the first examination of this question, using a panel of 154 developing countries. We find that countries removed from GSP adopt more liberal trade policies than those remaining eligible. The results, robust to endogeneity and alternative measures, suggest that developing countries may be best served by full integration into the reciprocity-based world trade regime rather than continued GSP-style preferences.

发达国家针对来自发展中国家的进口商品维持特殊关税优惠待遇，即普惠制（Generalized System of Preferences, GSP）。批评者指出此类优惠政策成效不佳，但目前学界对其如何影响受惠国自身的贸易政策仍知之甚少。本研究基于154个发展中国家的面板数据，首次对这一问题展开实证检验。研究发现，相较于仍具备普惠制受惠资格的国家，被移出普惠制体系的国家会采取更为自由化的贸易政策。该结果在克服内生性问题、更换替代衡量指标等稳健性检验下均保持稳健，这表明发展中国家若想获得最优政策收益，或许应全面融入以互惠为基础的世界贸易体系，而非继续享受普惠制式的优惠待遇。