Publications
Publications
- Journal of East Asian Studies
The New Face of Chinese Industrial Policy: Making Sense of Anti-Dumping Cases in the Petrochemical and Steel Industries.
Abstract
Why have China's petrochemical and steel industries behaved so differently in seeking trade protection through anti-dumping measures, especially given that both industries face the full force of the global economy? We argue that the patterning of anti-dumping actions is best explained in terms of industrial structures, inclusive of degrees of horizontal concentration and vertical integration. These structures determine a firm's motivation to seek protection, as well as its capacity to overcome collective action problems within its industry. In the petrochemical industry, the shift toward greater horizontal consolidation and vertical integration reduces the collective action problems associated with anti-dumping petitions among upstream companies. It also weakens downstream companies lobbying in favor of the general protection of highly integrated conglomerates. In the steel industry, by contrast, national industrial policy fails to weaken local state interests sufficiently. Fragmented upstream and downstream channels instead persist, with strong odds against upstream suppliers waging a successful defense of material interests. Such distinctive industrial structures, we show, were a direct result of whether the central government could restructure these designated priority industries in its preferred direction. We find that exogenous price shocks proved particularly helpful in this regard.
Keywords
Policy; Trade; Economy; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Motivation and Incentives; Marketing Channels; Industry Structures; System Shocks; Price; Restructuring; Interests; Energy Industry; Steel Industry; China
Citation
Abrami, Regina M., and Yu Zheng. "The New Face of Chinese Industrial Policy: Making Sense of Anti-Dumping Cases in the Petrochemical and Steel Industries." Journal of East Asian Studies 11, no. 3 (September–December 2011).