A Trade Restrictiveness Index of theLevel of Protection in Australian Manufacturing

In this paper we provide a new 31 year time series of the level of protection in the Australian Manufacturing Sector. The index used is the partial equilibrium form of the Trade Restrictiveness Index recently developed by the World Bank. This is the theoretically correct welfare-based average of levels of nominal protection provided to sub-industries. The paper outlines the index and its properties. The method of calculation uses series of the mean level of protection and its dispersion, which have been published by the Productivity Commission. Some comments are made on the insights gained from the new series