Tariffs and Economic Development in the USA: New Evidence from a New Dataset of US Product-Level Tariffs, 1789 - Present

该奖项资助了一项关于关税在19世纪和20世纪美国经济从农业经济向工业经济转变过程中所起作用的创新研究。该项目的核心是汇编一个新的开放获取数据库，其中包含1789年以来美国关税法所涵盖的每一种产品的关税。该数据库可以使用任何文本编辑器或电子表格应用程序轻松访问和搜索，它允许用户追踪自1789年以来美国经济的产品级关税保护。研究人员将使用这些数据集来调查几个与贸易相关的问题，例如为什么不同的产品吸引不同的关税结构，关税在美国经济从农业经济向工业经济的转变中发挥了什么作用，以及关税政策如何影响19世纪和20世纪初的国会政治。拥有全面开放的关税税率数据将使美国消费者、生产者和政策制定者更好地了解关税政策是如何随着时间的推移而演变的。这些数据还将帮助用户评估关税对消费者和生产者的经济影响，从而评估美国人的福祉。由于当前的政策是过去政策和经验的函数，这个数据库将是任何思考美国贸易政策未来的人的重要输入。这项研究的结果将为关税和其他贸易政策提供参考。该奖项资助了对美国关税政策历史的重要和创新研究。本研究项目的核心部分是编制1789年至1988年产品级关税的大型数据库，并将其与1988年以后的关税数据合并。数据将是一个用户友好的基于文本的所有美国进口关税数据库，用户将能够找到自1789年以来每个关税细目的法定关税税率，以及通过SITC（修订2）代码跟踪关税税率。研究人员将使用该数据集来研究美国共和国早期（1789 - 1861）关税税率的政治和官僚决定因素。此外，本研究将通过重点研究关税税率的累进性和递减性来研究关税税率的发生率。研究人员还将探索产业水平生产率增长、结构变化和关税政策之间的联系，使用新的识别策略来揭示关税政策对这些结果的因果影响。本研究的结果不仅可以为美国贸易政策的学术解释提供信息，还可以帮助政策制定者更好地理解美国贸易政策的总体和分配影响。这项研究的结果将为更有效的贸易政策提供投入，从而促进经济增长，扩大消费者和生产者的选择，从而改善美国人的福祉。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award funds an innovative research on the role of tariffs played in the transformation of the US economy from an agricultural economy to an industrial one in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the heart of this project is the compilation of a new open-access database of US tariffs since 1789 for every product covered by US tariff laws. The database will be easily accessible and searchable using any text editor or a spreadsheet application and it allows users to trace product-level tariff protection for the US economy since 1789. The researchers will use this data set to investigate several trade-related questions, such as why different products attracted different tariff structures, what role tariffs played in the transformation of the US economy from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, and how tariff policies affected congressional politics in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Having a comprehensive open-access data of tariff rates will allow US consumers, producers, and policy makers to better understand how tariff policy has evolved over time. The data will also help users evaluate the economic impact of tariffs on consumers and producers and thus the wellbeing of Americans. Since current policies are a function of past policies and experience, this database will be an important input for anyone thinking about the future of American trade policy. The results of this research will inform tariff and other trade policies. This award funds and important and innovative research on the history of US tariff policy. The central part of this research project is to compile a large database of product-level tariffs from 1789 to 1988 and merged it with the post-1988 tariff data. The data will be a user-friendly text-based database of all US import tariffs and users will be able to find the statutory tariff rate for each tariff line since 1789 as well as track tariff rates by SITC (revision 2) code as well. The researchers will use this dataset to study the political and bureaucratic determinants of tariff rates in the early US republic (1789 – 1861). In addition, the research will study the incidence of tariff rates by focusing on the progressivity and regressivity of tariff rates. The researchers will also explore the connection between industry level productivity growth, structural change, and tariff policy using novel identification strategies to reveal causal impacts of tariff policy on these outcomes. The results of this research will inform not only academic interpretations of US trade policy but also help policy makers to better understand the aggregate and distributional impacts of American trade policy. The results of this research will provide inputs into more efficient trade policies thus increase economic growth, broaden consumer and producer choice, and thus improve the wellbeing of Americans.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.