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The Last Free Traders? Interwar Trade Policy in the Netherlands and Netherlands East Indies

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  • Pim de Zwart
  • Markus Lampe
  • Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke

Abstract

There has still been too little detailed work on the protectionism that emerged in the wake of the Great Depression. In this paper we explore the experiences of two countries that have been largely neglected in the literature, the Netherlands and Netherlands East Indies (NEI). How did these traditionally free-trading economies respond to the Depression? We construct a detailed product-level database of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade based on primary sources. While ad valorem tariff increases in the Netherlands were largely due to deflation, the country protected agriculture and textiles in a number of ways. The NEI quota system was largely geared to protecting Dutch exporters, but the reverse was not true: Dutch trade policies benefited the metropole more than its largest colony.
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  • Pim de Zwart & Markus Lampe & Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke, 2023. "The Last Free Traders? Interwar Trade Policy in the Netherlands and Netherlands East Indies," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _206, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_206
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    1. Eichengreen, Barry & Irwin, Douglas A., 2010. "The Slide to Protectionism in the Great Depression: Who Succumbed and Why?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 871-897, December.
    2. Eichengreen, Barry & Irwin, Douglas A., 1995. "Trade blocs, currency blocs and the reorientation of world trade in the 1930s," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1-2), pages 1-24, February.
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    4. Vellore Arthi & Markus Lampe & Ashwin Nair & Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke, 2024. "Deliberate Surrender? The Impact of Interwar Indian Protection," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(657), pages 23-47.
    5. Irwin, Douglas A, 1998. "Change in U.S. Tariffs: The Role of Import Prices and Commercial Policies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(4), pages 1015-1026, September.
    6. Hiau Looi Kee & Alessandro Nicita & Marcelo Olarreaga, 2008. "Import Demand Elasticities and Trade Distortions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 666-682, November.
    7. Douglas A. Irwin, 2010. "Trade Restrictiveness and Deadweight Losses from US Tariffs," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 111-133, August.
    8. Federico, Giovanni & Tena, Antonio, 1998. "Was Italy a protectionist country?," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 73-97, April.
    9. Federico, Giovanni & Vasta, Michelangelo, 2015. "What Do We Really Know about Protection before the Great Depression: Evidence from Italy," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 75(4), pages 993-1029, December.
    10. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Introduction to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
    11. James E. Anderson & J. Peter Neary, 2005. "Measuring the Restrictiveness of International Trade Policy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262012200, April.
    12. de Zwart, Pim & Gallardo-Albarrán, Daniel & Rijpma, Auke, 2022. "The Demographic Effects of Colonialism: Forced Labor and Mortality in Java, 1834–1879," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(1), pages 211-249, March.
    13. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Preface to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
    14. Alan de Bromhead & Alan Fernihough & Markus Lampe & Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke, 2019. "When Britain Turned Inward: The Impact of Interwar British Protection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(2), pages 325-352, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ayuso Díaz, Alejandro & Tena Junguito, Antonio, 2024. "US and Japan rivalry in Philippine interwar import manufactures market. Powerpolitics, trade cost and competitiveness," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH 44262, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    2. Alejandro Ayuso-Díaz & Antonio Tena-Junguito, 2024. "US and Japan rivalry in Philippine interwar import manufactures market. Power politics, trade cost and competitiveness," Working Papers 0265, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N74 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N75 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Asia including Middle East
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F54 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Colonialism; Imperialism; Postcolonialism

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