Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T10:50:03.768Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

When Are Sanctions Effective? A Bargaining and Enforcement Framework

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2014

Navin A. Bapat  and
Bo Ram Kwon
Get access

Abstract

Although a considerable literature identifies the conditions under which sanctions are more likely to be successful, few studies examine the question of when sanctioning states or senders are willing to enforce their sanctions laws against their firms. Using a game theoretic model, we argue that imposing sanctions creates a strategic dilemma for senders. We demonstrate that senders often have disincentives to enforce their sanctions policies, given that the restriction on economic transactions with targeted states may undermine their firms' competitiveness. The model indicates that sanctions are more likely to succeed when the sender's firm retains a moderate share of the target's market relative to its foreign competitors. However, the model also demonstrates that sanctions are likely to be imposed only when the conditions do not favor their success. The empirical implications of the model are tested using the Threat and Imposition of Economic Sanctions (TIES) data set.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , Winter 2015 , pp. 131 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

We thank Skyler Cranmer, Mark Crescenzi, Bryan Early, Stephen Gent, Andrew Kydd, Cliff Morgan, Layna Mosley, Michael Mousseau, Mark Nance, Jon Pevehouse, Patricia Sullivan, and the reviewers of this journal for their helpful comments. All remaining errors are our responsibility.

References

Bapat, Navin A., and Morgan, T. Clifton. 2009. Multilateral Versus Unilateral Sanctions Reconsidered: A Test Using New Data. International Studies Quarterly 53 (4):1075–94.Google Scholar
Bernard, Andrew B., Jensen, J. Bradford, Redding, Stephen J., and Schott, Peter K. 2007. Firms in International Trade. Journal of Economic Perspectives 21 (3):105–30.Google Scholar
Biglaiser, Glen, and Lektzian, David. 2011. The Effect of Sanctions on US Foreign Direct Investment. International Organization 65 (3):531–51.Google Scholar
Bonetti, Shane. 1998. Distinguishing Characteristics of Degrees of Success and Failure in Economic Sanctions Episodes. Applied Economics 30 (6):805–13.Google Scholar
Brewer, Thomas L. 1993. Government Policies, Market Imperfections, and Foreign Direct Investment. Journal of International Business Studies 24 (1):101–20.Google Scholar
Cortright, David, and Lopez, George A.. 2000. The Sanctions Decade: Assessing UN Strategies in the 1990s. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Cortright, David, and Lopez, George A. 2002. Smart Sanctions: Targeting Economic Statecraft. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Dashti-Gibson, Jaleh, Davis, Patricia, and Radcliff, Benjamin. 1997. On the Determinants of the Success of Economic Sanctions: An Empirical Analysis. American Journal of Political Science 41 (2):608–18.Google Scholar
DeGennaro, Ramon P. 2005. Market Imperfections. Journal of Financial Transformation 107–17.Google Scholar
Dorussen, Han, and Mo, Jongryn. 2001. Ending Economic Sanctions: Audience Costs and Rent-Seeking as Commitment Strategies. Journal of Conflict Resolution 45 (4):395–426.Google Scholar
Drezner, Daniel W. 1999. The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Drezner, Daniel W. 2002. Bargaining, Enforcement, and Multilateral Sanctions: When Is Cooperation Counterproductive? International Organization 54 (1):73–102.Google Scholar
Drezner, Daniel W. 2003. The Hidden Hand of Economic Coercion. International Organization 57 (3):643–59.Google Scholar
Drury, A. Cooper. 1998. Revisiting Economic Sanctions Reconsidered. Journal of Peace Research 35 (4):497–509.Google Scholar
Drury, A. Cooper. 2001. Sanctions as Coercive Diplomacy: The US President's Decision to Initiate Economic Sanctions. Political Research Quarterly 54 (3):485–508.Google Scholar
Early, Bryan R. 2009. Sleeping with Your Friends' Enemies: An Explanation of Sanctions-Busting Trade. International Studies Quarterly 53 (1):49–71.Google Scholar
Early, Bryan R. 2011. Unmasking the Black Knights: Sanctions Busters and Their Effects on the Success of Economic Sanctions. Foreign Policy Analysis 7:381–402.Google Scholar
Fearon, James D. 1994. Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International Disputes. American Political Science Review 88 (3):577–92.Google Scholar
Fearon, James D. 1995. Rationalist Explanations for War. International Organization 49 (3):379–414.Google Scholar
Gleditsch, Kristian S. 2002. Expanded Trade and GDP Data. Journal of Conflict Resolution 46 (5):712–24.Google Scholar
Greenwald, Bruce C., and Stiglitz, Joseph E.. 1993. Financial Market Imperfections and Business Cycles. Quarterly Journal of Economics 108 (1):77–114.Google Scholar
Hart, Robert A. 2000. Democracy and the Successful Use of Economic Sanctions. Political Research Quarterly 53 (2):267–84.Google Scholar
Hufbauer, Gary C., Schott, Jeffrey J., and Elliott, Kimberly A.. 1990. Economic Sanctions Reconsidered: History and Current Policy. Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics.Google Scholar
Hufbauer, Gary C., Schott, Jeffrey J., Elliott, Kimberly A., and Oegg, Barbara. 2007. Economic Sanctions Reconsidered. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics.Google Scholar
Kaempfer, William H., and Lowenberg, Anton D.. 1988. The Theory of International Economic Sanctions: A Public Choice Approach. American Economic Review 78 (4):786–93.Google Scholar
Kaempfer, William H., and Lowenberg, Anton D.. 1999. Unilateral Versus Multilateral International Sanctions: A Public Choice Perspective. International Studies Quarterly 43 (1):37–58.Google Scholar
Lektzian, David, and Souva, Mark. 2007. An Institutional Theory of Sanctions Onset and Success. Journal of Conflict Resolution 51 (6):848–71.Google Scholar
Lindsay, James M. 1986. Trade Sanctions as Policy Instruments: A Re-Examination. International Studies Quarterly 30:153–73.Google Scholar
Marshall, Monty G., and Jaggers, Keith. 2005. Polity IV Project: Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800–2004. Dataset Users' Manual. College Park: University of Maryland. Available at <http://www.systemicpeace.org/inscrdata.html>. Accessed 5 January 2009..+Accessed+5+January+2009.>Google Scholar
Martin, Lisa L. 1992. Coercive Cooperation: Explaining Multilateral Economic Sanctions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
McLean, Elena V., and Whang, Taehee. 2010. Friends or Foes? Major Trading Partners and the Success of Economic Sanctions. International Studies Quarterly 54 (2):427–47.Google Scholar
Morgan, T. Clifton, and Bapat, Navin A.. 2003. Imposing Sanctions: States, Firms, and Economic Coercion. International Studies Review 5 (4):65–79.Google Scholar
Morgan, T. Clifton, Bapat, Navin A., and Krustev, Valentin. 2009. The Threat and Imposition of Economic Sanctions, 1971–2000. Conflict Management and Peace Science 26 (1):92–110.Google Scholar
Morgan, T. Clifton, and Schwebach, Valerie L.. 1997. Fools Suffer Gladly: The Use of Economic Sanctions in International Crises. International Studies Quarterly 41 (1):27–50.Google Scholar
Nooruddin, Irfan. 2002. Modeling Selection Bias in Studies of Sanctions Efficacy. International Interactions 28 (1):59–75.Google Scholar
Pape, Robert A. 1997. Why Economic Sanctions Do Not Work. International Security 22 (2):90–136.Google Scholar
Powell, Robert. 2006. War as a Commitment Problem. International Organization 60 (1):169–203.Google Scholar
Reiter, Dan. 2003. Exploring the Bargaining Model of War. Perspective on Politics 1 (1):27–43.Google Scholar
Schelling, Thomas. 1960. The Strategy of Conflict. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Schultz, Kenneth A. 1998. Domestic Opposition and Signaling in International Crises. American Political Science Review 92 (4):829–44.Google Scholar
Shambaugh, George E. 1999. States, Firms, and Power: Successful Sanctions in United States Foreign Policy. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Alastair. 1995. The Success and Use of Economic Sanctions. International Interactions 21 (3):229–45.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 1989. Markets, Market Failures, and Development. American Economic Review 79 (2):197–203.Google Scholar
Thompson, William R. 2001. Identifying Rivals and Rivalries in World Politics. International Studies Quarterly 45 (4):557–86.Google Scholar
van Bergeijk, Peter A.G. 1989. Success and Failure of Economic Sanctions. Kyklos 42 (3):385–404.Google Scholar
Wagner, R. Harrison. 1988. Economic Interdependence, Bargaining Power, and Political Influence. International Organization 42 (3):461–82.Google Scholar
Wagner, R. Harrison. 2000. Bargaining and War. American Journal of Political Science 44 (3):469–84.Google Scholar
Winship, Christopher, and Mare, Robert D.. 1992. Models for Sample Selection Bias. Annual Review of Sociology 18:327–50.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Bapat and Kwon Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Bapat and Kwon Supplementary Material(File)
File 4.5 KB
Supplementary material: File

Bapat and Kwon Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Bapat and Kwon Supplementary Material(File)
File 395.9 KB