FREE-TRADE OR PROTECTION - BELGIAN TEXTILE AND CLOTHING FIRMS TRADE PREFERENCES

Free Trade or Protection? Belgian Textile and Clothing Firms' Trade Pr eferences. - This paper examines the positions of Belgian textile and clothing firms on trade policies. Observations on positions are genera ted by a survey. Along the lines of the political economy of protectio n and anti-protection we test whether firm-specific characteristics in fluence textile and clothing firms' trade policy preferences. The resu lts show that international competition and having foreign establishme nts significantly determine firms' positions, but that product differe ntiation does not. A Chow test indicates no significant difference bet ween firms' sensitivities in the textile and clothing industries. This suggests that the two professional organizations should co-operate on trade issues.