Public Policy and the Australian Tariff Structure

Abstract

Political scientists and public policy analysts have neglected Australian tariff policy, leaving the subject to normative economic models and election politicking. This paper explores the usefulness of a quantitative technique in testing political theories explaining the tariff structure. The explanations tested are a rational actor theory, a business interest group theory and a labour interest group theory, the last of which best explains the tariff structure. This is significant for tariff reduction policies, since it shows that the most highly protected industries have low wages but not large numbers of workers. Further, the high tariff industries might be a critical element in Australian international economic relations with less developed countries. The similarity of these results with Canadian studies might indicate future pressures on public policies for protection of manufacturing industry in Australia.