Trade policy: What′s welfare got to do with it?

The empirical trade policy literature based on by Grossman and Helpman [Grossman, G. and E. Helpman, 1994, Protection for Sale, American Economic Review 84, 833-850.] provides estimates of the U.S. and Turkish governments′ weight on welfare significantly greater than on campaign contributions. We explain this puzzle by incorporating political institutions and political instability.