a r t i c l e i n f o JEL classification: F13 F42 F51 Keywords: Trade war out of fear Risk-dominant equilibrium Global game in trade policies Strategic complementarity Trade retaliation strategies This paper examines why the recent efforts to arrange free trade regimes have failed repeatedly focusing on the increased uncertainties in economic fundamentals and the asymmetric political economic c...

The paper develops an economic–political model to explain why the convergence hypothesis fails even though good economic policies seem to be a sufficient condition for strong economic growth (Sachs, J., Warner, A., 1995a. Economic convergence and economic policies. NBER Working Paper No. 5039. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.). The model has three variables: growth, policy, ...

This article argues that the existing maze of pesticide policies reflects the multidimensionality of side effects of pesticide use that cannot be addressed by uniform policies. Pesticide policies will improve as (a) economic literacy among natural scientists and policymakers increases; (b) economic models of pesticide use and agricultural production in general better incorporate biological cons...