“Mass Support for FTAs and Factor Endowment” 2020 forthcoming. International Journal
Does the relative factor endowment (RFE) of trade partners influence mass support for free trade agreements (FTAs), and if so, how? Preference models based on factor endowment expect that individual attitudes toward trade partners should systematically vary by factors of endowment and respondents’ skill level. This paper provides the first systematic examination of the effect of trade partner’s RFE on mass support for FTAs. Using a conjoint analysis design on a sample of respondents from developed and developing economies (the US and India), the findings show that respondents consistently favour trade partners with a highly educated workforce and a higher level of gross domestic product per capita. Moreover, preferences for these country attributes hold regardless of respondents’ skill level or their country’s RFE. Data from a nationally representative survey on Canadian trade preferences offer additional corroborating evidence. Together, the findings offer limited support for common economic preference models, indicating that individuals, within and across countries, may share a common bias against trade with lesser-developed states.