By integrating theory from political economy and consumer psychology, this dissertation provides a framework for understanding consumer preferences toward trade liberalization. Public support for protection is typically analyzed through trade's consequences on labor markets. Few studies directly consider the impact of trade on consumers, who are typically assumed to benefit from liberalization. Although trade is theorized to increase consumer welfare, consumers often express mixed attitudes toward trade liberalization. It is argued that trade has clear effects on consumption with welfare gains being realized through the purchase of imports. Because consumers differentiate products by country of origin, however, the gains of trade are not distributed equally across individuals, industries, or agreements. While trade is welfare-enhancing for heavy consumers of imports, individuals with strong preferences for domestic products benefit from protectionist policies that disperse the cost of maintaining inefficient industries and guarantee the availability of domestic goods. Empirical and experimental data overwhelmingly support the claims of the model. Individuals who prefer domestic goods are shown to express higher levels of support for protection. Additionally, bilateral trade attitudes are consistent with the consumer preference model. Public support for trade is higher with countries predicted to provide a greater consumer surplus. It is concluded that consumerism plays a major role in trade attitude formation and consumer preferences should be given greater emphasis in future work examining the political economy of trade. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2013. / October 18, 2013. / Consumer Preferences, International Political Economy, Political Psychology, Protection, Public Opinion, Trade / Includes bibliographical references. / Sean D. Ehrlich, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stefan C. Norrbin, University Representative; Dale L. Smith, Committee Member; Jennifer Jerit, Committee Member; Brad T. Gomez, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_185107 |
| Contributors | Hearn, Eddie (authoraut), Ehrlich, Sean D. (professor directing dissertation), Norrbin, Stefan C. (university representative), Smith, Dale L. (committee member), Jerit, Jennifer (committee member), Gomez, Brad T. (committee member), Department of Political Science (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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