"Commerce, Coalitions and the Rise of the Firm: the New Politics of New Trade"

The Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs program on Power, Wealth and Global Political Economy, presents “Commerce, Coalitions and the Rise of the Firm: the New Politics of New Trade by Mary Anne Madeira. Professor Madeira received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington and is currently an Assistant Professor at Lehigh University. Her work focuses on political economy and trade politics.

In this talk, she argues that major structural changes in global trade have led to a distinct new domestic politics of trade, one that is not explained by classic trade theories. She also argues that rising intra-industry trade in the postwar period has undermined traditional trade coalitions and created new opportunities for individual firms to become politically active. Drawing on new trade theories from economics, as well as work on firm heterogeneity and lobbying, she shows that intra-industry trade generates winners and losers at the firm level (rather than the sector or factor level, as our classic trade theories predict). In doing so, intra-industry trade undermines consensus and collective action at the industry level, paving the way for individual firms to ramp up their lobbying efforts and hindering efforts by industry associations (and labor unions) to lobby on behalf of the industry as a whole. Her model explains puzzling empirical phenomena such as the rise of large firms lobbying alone, the relative decline of broad trade coalitions, and the relative decline of labor union activity in trade politics, all features of highly salient recent US trade deals.

To join this webinar, please use this Zoom link or visit the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs events.