Every Firm for Itself

This book provides the first comprehensive theory of the domestic politics of intra-industry trade, tested in a comparative framework.

This book is for people interested in how dramatic changes in the way countries trade have radically changed trade politics in the US and EU. This book shows how contemporary trading patterns advantage large, multinational firms and disadvantage small firms. It also helps explain the growing public backlash to hyperglobalization.Economists have modelled the economic rationale for intra-industry trade, yet political scientists largely have neglected it until recently. Every Firm for Itself explores how dramatic shifts in the way countries trade have radically changed trade politics in the US and EU. It explores how electorally minded policymakers respond to heavy lobbying by powerful corporations and provide trade policies that further advantage these large firms. It explains puzzling empirical phenomena such as the rise of individual firm lobbying, the decline of broad trade coalitions, the decline of labor union activity in trade politics, and the rising public backlash to globalization due to trade politics becoming increasingly dominated by large firms. With an approach that connects economics and politics, this book shows how contemporary trading patterns among rich countries undermine longstanding coalitions and industry associations that once successfully represented large and small firms alike.