| Abstract: |
The role of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO)'s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions (or the Convention on Cultural Diversity
(CCD) for short) has been debated by both experts in international trade law
and economists. However, the empirical study presented herein is the first in
this body of the literature to investigate the relationship between the CCD
and trade in cultural goods. By using trade data for 2004-2010 and employing
the first-differenced difference-in-differences method, we seek to clarify its
relation with trade in cultural goods by conducting a medium-term assessment.
Our estimation results provide no evidence that the CCD works as an instrument
of disguised protectionism. Further, we find that CCD contracting countries
tend to have increased the extensive margins of cultural imports for some
subcategories of cultural goods more than CCD non-contracting countries. This
implies that the CCD has contributed to the promotion of cultural diversity. |