[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/6109.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Policy barriers to international trade in services : evidence from a new database

Author

Listed:
  • Borchert, Ingo
  • Gootiiz, Batshur
  • Mattoo, Aaditya
Abstract
Surprisingly little is known about policies that affect international trade in services. Previous analyses have focused on policy commitments made by countries in international agreements but these commitments do not in many cases reflect actual policy. This paper describes a new initiative to collect comparable information on services trade policies for 103 countries, across a range of service sectors and the relevant modes of service delivery. The resultant database reveals interesting patterns in policy. Across regions, some of the fastest growing countries in Asia and the oil-rich Gulf states have the most restrictive policies in services, whereas some of the poorest countries are remarkably open. Across sectors, professional and transportation services are among the most protected in both industrial and developing countries, while retail, telecommunications and even finance tend to be more open. An illustrative set of results suggests that trade policies matter for investment flows and access to services. In particular, restrictions on foreign acquisitions, discrimination in licensing, restrictions on the repatriation of earnings and lack of legal recourse all have a significant and sizable negative effect, reducing the expected value of sectoral foreign investment by $2.2 billion over a 7-year period, compared with"open"policy regimes. In terms of access to services, credit as a share of gross domestic product is on average 3.3 percentage points lower in countries with major restrictions on the establishment of foreign banks as compared with those that only impose operational restrictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Borchert, Ingo & Gootiiz, Batshur & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2012. "Policy barriers to international trade in services : evidence from a new database," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6109, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6109
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2012/06/28/000158349_20120628132350/Rendered/PDF/WPS6109.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Maria Soledad Martinez Peria, 2008. "Banking Services for Everyone? Barriers to Bank Access and Use around the World," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 22(3), pages 397-430, November.
    2. Fink, Carsten & Mattoo, Aaditya & Rathindran, Randeep, 2001. "Liberalizing basic telecommunications : the Asian experience," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2718, The World Bank.
    3. Borchert, Ingo & Gootiiz, Batshur & Grover, Arti & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2012. "Landlocked or policy locked ? how services trade protection deepens economic isolation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5942, The World Bank.
    4. Darren Lubotsky & Martin Wittenberg, 2006. "Interpretation of Regressions with Multiple Proxies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 549-562, August.
    5. Nora Dihel & Ben Shepherd, 2007. "Modal Estimates of Services Barriers," OECD Trade Policy Papers 51, OECD Publishing.
    6. Hummels, David & Lugovskyy, Volodymyr & Skiba, Alexandre, 2009. "The trade reducing effects of market power in international shipping," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 84-97, May.
    7. Chen, Natalie & Novy, Dennis, 2012. "On the measurement of trade costs: direct vs. indirect approaches to quantifying standards and technical regulations," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 401-414, July.
    8. Stephen S. Golub, 2009. "Openness to Foreign Direct Investment in Services: An International Comparative Analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 1245-1268, August.
    9. Hoekman, Bernard, 1995. "Tentative First Steps: An Assessment of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Services," CEPR Discussion Papers 1150, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Henk Kox & Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås, 2007. "Services Trade and Domestic Regulation," OECD Trade Policy Papers 49, OECD Publishing.
    11. Rauf Gönenç & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2003. "Regulation, market structure and performance in air passenger transportation," OECD Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2001(1), pages 183-227.
    12. Takeshi Koyama & Stephen S. Golub, 2006. "OECD's FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index: Revision and Extension to more Economies," OECD Working Papers on International Investment 2006/4, OECD Publishing.
    13. Paul Conway & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2006. "Product Market Regulation in the Non-Manufacturing Sectors of OECD Countries: Measurement and Highlights," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 530, OECD Publishing.
    14. Czubala, Witold & Shepherd, Ben & Wilson, John S., 2007. "Help or hindrance ? the impact of harmonized standards on african exports," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4400, The World Bank.
    15. International Finance Corporation & Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency & World Bank, 2010. "Investing across Borders 2010," World Bank Publications - Reports 27883, The World Bank Group.
    16. Martin,Will & Winters,L. Alan (ed.), 1996. "The Uruguay Round and the Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521586016, September.
    17. Shepherd, Ben, 2007. "Product standards, harmonization, and trade : evidence from the extensive margin," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4390, The World Bank.
    18. Carsten Fink & Aaditya Mattoo & Ileana Cristina Neagu, 2002. "Trade in International Maritime Services: How Much Does Policy Matter?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 16(1), pages 81-108, June.
    19. Borchert, Ingo & Gootiiz, Batshur & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2012. "Guide to the services trade restrictions database," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6108, The World Bank.
    20. Aaditya Mattoo & Lucy Payton, 2007. "Services Trade and Development : The Experience of Zambia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6697.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Borchert, Ingo & Gootiiz, Batshur & Magdeleine, Joscelyn & Marchetti, Juan A. & Mattoo, Aaditya & Rubio, Ester & Shannon, Evgeniia, 2019. "Applied services trade policy: A guide to the Services Trade Policy Database and the Services Trade Restrictions Index," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2019-14, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    2. Ingo Borchert & Batshur Gootiiz & Arti Grover Goswami & Aaditya Mattoo, 2017. "Services Trade Protection and Economic Isolation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 632-652, March.
    3. Fontagné, Lionel & Mitaritonna, Cristina, 2013. "Assessing barriers to trade in the distribution and telecom sectors in emerging countries," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 57-78, January.
    4. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00975560 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Borchert, Ingo & Gootiiz, Batshur & Grover, Arti & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2012. "Landlocked or policy locked ? how services trade protection deepens economic isolation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5942, The World Bank.
    6. Joseph Francois & Bernard Hoekman, 2010. "Services Trade and Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 642-692, September.
    7. Ezzat, Riham Ahmed & Aboushady, Nora, 2018. "Do restrictive regulatory policies matter for telecom performance? Evidence from MENA countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 60-72.
    8. Olivier Cadot & Ana Fernandes & Julien Gourdon & Aaditya Mattoo & Jaime Melo, 2014. "Evaluating Aid for Trade: A Survey of Recent Studies," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 516-529, April.
    9. Ziyu Yi & Long Wei & Xuan Huang, 2022. "Does Information-and-Communication-Technology Market Openness Promote Digital Service Exports?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, April.
    10. repec:wsr:wpaper:y:2012:i:087 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Ferrantino, Michael J., 2012. "Using supply chain analysis to examine the costs of non-tariff measures (NTMs) and the benefits of trade facilitation," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2012-02, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    12. Yaghoob Jafari & David G. Tarr, 2017. "Estimates of Ad Valorem Equivalents of Barriers Against Foreign Suppliers of Services in Eleven Services Sectors and 103 Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 544-573, March.
    13. Saoussen Ben Romdhane, 2008. "Liberalizing Trade in Services in Tunisia: General Equilibrium Effects," Working Papers 404, Economic Research Forum, revised 06 Jan 2008.
    14. Reisman, Matthew & Vu, Danielle, 2012. "Nontariff Measures in the Global Retailing Industry," Conference papers 332292, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    15. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Mukunoki, Hiroshi & Yang, Chih-hai, 2020. "Liberalization for services FDI and export quality: Evidence from China," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    16. Han, Shengfei & Wang, Wei, 2014. "WTO accession, impediments to FDI, and the market opening of basic telecom services in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 68-81.
    17. Massimo Geloso Grosso & Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås & Asako Ueno & Frédéric Gonzales & Iza Lejárraga & Sébastien Miroudot & Dorothée Rouzet, 2014. "Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI): Transport and Courier Services," OECD Trade Policy Papers 176, OECD Publishing.
    18. Borchert, Ingo & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2016. "The trade reducing effects of restrictions on liner shippingAuthor-Name: Bertho, Fabien," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 231-242.
    19. Keck, Alexander & Djiofack-Zebaze, Calvin, 2006. "Telecommunications services in Africa: The impact of multilateral commitments and unilateral reform on sector performance and economic growth," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2006-10, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    20. Miren Lafourcade & Jacques-François Thisse, 2011. "New Economic Geography: The Role of Transport Costs," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Riham Ahmed Ezzat, 2015. "Paving the way for better telecom performance: Evidence from the telecommunication sector in MENA countries," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01164199, HAL.
    22. Jota Ishikawa & Nori Tarui, 2015. "Backfiring with backhaul problems: Trade and Industrial Policies with Endogenous Transport Costs," Working Papers 201514, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6109. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.