Did U.S. Safeguard Resuscitate Harley Davidson in the 1980s?

         
Author Name KITANO Taiju  (the University of Tokyo) /OHASHI Hiroshi  (the University of Tokyo)
Creation Date/NO. April 2007 07-E-026
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Abstract

This paper examines the effect of U.S. safeguard on motorcycle imports in the period from 1983 to 1987. After receiving the temporary protection with the maximum tariff of more than 45%, Harley Davidson drastically recovered its sales. The paper conducts structural analyses of the motorcycle market, and finds that the safeguard contributed merely a fraction of Harley Davidson's profit. This finding is primarily due to small cross-price elasticity of demand between American and Japanese motorcycle models.

Published: Hiroshi Ohashi and Taiju Kitano, 2009. "Did U.S. Safeguard Resuscitate Harley Davidson in the 1980s?" Journal of International Economics, Vol. 79(2), pp. 186-197.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022199609000956