ESSAYS ON ANTI-DUMPING

This dissertation studies the use of the US antidumping (AD) legislation. In the first chapter, I use panel data on AD petitions filed by US industries from 1980 to1995 to study the determinants of antidumping filings. The main question I study in chapter 2 is why so few firms petition for import relief. It is common knowledge that at least in the short run, petition itself can restrain imports and lead to higher profits. I use an event study to analyze the impact of petitioning on the market value of a firm to analyze the puzzle. The third chapter evaluates whether the Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA), signed between US and Canada in May 1996, had a significant economic impact on the industrial users of lumber in the US. Firm’s daily stock prices are used in an event study. I then look at the anticompetitive nature of AD in the case of chemical industry