WHO BENEFITS FROM ANTIDUMPING LEGISLATION

Antidumping laws alter the pricing policies of foreign firms to the be nefit of domestic ones. Unilaterally, domestic firms want to lobby for antidumping restrictions; unilaterally, consumers want to lobby again st them. This paper shows that if firms succeed in both countries, the ir profits fall and consumer surplus rises, so that firms end up worki ng for consumers everywhere by lobbying. It also shows that each gover nment, maximizing total domestic surplus, prefers no legislation irres pective of the action of another government. However, world surplus ma y be greater with antidumping rules. These results hold under both Ber trand and Cournot competition.