The Political Economy of Used Automobile Protection in Latin America

Explaining Latin American protection against imports of used automobiles requires an exploration of the political economy of the protective measures. In this paper, a preliminary attempt is made at this exploration. The degree of used passenger automobile protection in 24 Latin American and Caribbean counties is presented. This is followed by a closer examination of the political economy of used automobile imports in the region. An ordered probit model that is used to explain the degree of protection is specified. This model embeds the Latin American sample within a larger sample of developing, transitional and newly industrialized economies. Finally, the results of this econometric analysis are reviewed and a set of preliminary conclusions is offered.