Publication details

Czechoslovak Tariffs in the 1920s : An Example of Historical Specificity in Economic Policy

Authors

KRPEC Oldřich HLOUŠEK Vít

Year of publication 2021
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Slavic Review
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Social Studies

Citation KRPEC, Oldřich and Vít HLOUŠEK. Czechoslovak Tariffs in the 1920s : An Example of Historical Specificity in Economic Policy. Slavic Review. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021, vol. 80, No 3, p. 523 - 543. ISSN 0037-6779. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/slr.2021.149.
web https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/slavic-review/article/czechoslovak-tariffs-in-the-1920s-an-example-of-historical-specificity-in-economic-policy/5CAAE0916034640DF161131A432B97AB
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/slr.2021.149
Keywords Czechoslovakia; economic history; trade policy; economic nationalism
Attached files
Description Czechoslovakia was the first industrialized economy to substantially increase tariffs after the First World War. At that time, Czechoslovakia was highly export-oriented, with a large trade surplus in industrial goods. We argue that the introduction of tariffs was a consequence of the ethnically heterogeneous structure of the economy. German capital controlled the highly export-oriented light and consumer goods industries; Czech capital dominated in industries that were far less export-oriented or even import-competing, such as machinery, transportation equipment, and electrical goods. Trade and exchange-rate policy preferences of both groups clearly differed; however, the policy decision-making process (at least until 1926) was completely controlled by Czechoslovaks and Czech capital, explicitly committed to a nationalist takeover of Czechoslovakia's economy. This is why it was possible to implement an exchange rate and trade policy that ran contrary to theoretical expectations based on the general (national aggregate) indicators of the national economy.
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