Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/212542 
Year of Publication: 
2004
Series/Report no.: 
BOFIT Discussion Papers No. 12/2004
Publisher: 
Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition (BOFIT), Helsinki
Abstract: 
In today s increasingly competitive business environment, many firms in declining industries have been confronted with the need to restructure.However, lobbies in these industries have often managed to attract government subsidies instead.This paper looks at the decision of a loss-making firm whether to lobby for subsidies or whether to restructure in the context of a contributions game as in Magee et al.(1989).We further analyse the role of tariffs in restricting uncompetitive practices such as granting state aid to unprofitable firms.Several results stand out.Firstly, there is a trade-off between spending resources on lobbying for subsidies and costly restructuring such that both restructuring and subsidisation take place in our model.Secondly, countervailing tariffs on subsidised exports shift the decision in favour of restructuring, thereby hardening budget constraints. Hence, the model illustrates that external constraints such as countervailing tariffs can help to establish internal financial discipline when first-best solutions are politically unfeasible. Thirdly, the social planner always prefers full restructuring implying that political competition comes at a cost of lower economic welfare in our model.
Subjects: 
soft budget constraints
restructuring
political economy
lobbying
trade policy
declining industries
JEL: 
P26
F13
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
951-686-966-1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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