The value of market access and national treatment commitments in services trade agreements

This paper looks at market access and national treatment commitments for services in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and in 95 regional trade agreements (RTAs) involving the countries that are covered in the OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI). The objective is to quantify the impact of legal bindings on trade in services that result from a reduction in the uncertainty faced by exporters. Bilateral bindings indices are created for five broad service sectors (professional services, computer services, telecoms, financial services and transport services). They indicate how close the sector is from a fully bound regime with no possibility to introduce any new trade barrier, by comparing commitments with the actual trade regime. These bilateral indices are then tested over the period 2000–2014 in a structural gravity model. Despite differences across sectors, the results confirm that the legal bindings typically found in services trade agreements tend to have a positive impact on exports even if no actual liberalisation takes place.     

Regulatory barriers to trade in services: A new database and composite indices

This paper presents new data on services trade regulation for 46 countries in 22 services sectors over 6 years (2014–2019). The data consist of qualitative information which is scored and weighted to produce composite indices. They cover market access and national treatment restrictions with respect to all GATS modes of supply, but also behind the border domestic regulation such as licensing, non-transparent regulatory procedures and competition policy. The database is updated annually. The trade restrictiveness indices (STRIs) are significantly correlated with services trade flows, but also with the performance of the sectors subject to the restrictions including logistics performance indicators, interest spreads, density of ATMs and secure servers, broadband penetration and outcomes such as legal rights and the time to resolve insolvency.     

Firm heterogeneity in services trade: Micro-level evidence from eight OECD countries

This paper shows that smaller and less productive firms, as well as first-time exporters, are overproportionally affected by services trade barriers using micro-data from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. For these firms, both the propensity to export and export volumes to less restrictive destinations are significantly higher than to more restrictive destinations. In contrast, policy barriers measured by the OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) do not affect export decisions of the largest, most productive and experience services firms. The pattern holds for two major modes of supply, cross-border services exports and foreign affiliate sales of services firms. The findings are consistent with firm sorting mechanisms in trade models with heterogeneous firms and hysteresis of export participation in the presence of sunk export costs.     

The crisis-resilience of services trade

Much attention has been focused on the impact of the current crisis on goods trade; hardly any on its impact on services trade. Using new trade data from the USA, and more aggregate data from other OECD countries, the authors show that services trade is weathering the current crisis much better than goods trade. On the basis of new evidence from Indian services exporters, it is suggested that services trade is more robust relative to goods trade for three reasons: less cyclical demand; lesser dependence on external finance; and few explicitly protectionist measures so far taken in services.     

Firm heterogeneity and international trade in services

This study, using panel data on Japanese firms, analyses the relationship between services trade and firm heterogeneity. It finds that the number of firms engaged in services trade is far less than that engaged in goods trade. Further, the productivity of services traders is higher than that of domestic firms and goods trading firms, whereas the productivity of firms that export services beyond the boundary of their firm groups is higher than that of those that export services only to their affiliate firms. These results suggest that only productive firms can engage in services trade by incurring the relatively large fixed costs.     

中俄互补性果蔬产品贸易发展动态及影响因素分析

随着"一带一路"建设的持续推进,中俄互补性果蔬产品贸易作为两国经贸合作的重要结合点,迎来广阔的发展前景。当前,中俄果蔬产品互补性显著、经贸合作持续升温,但也面临供需产品错位、农业投资合作有限、价格优势弱化、品牌亮度不够、绿色贸易壁垒冗杂、贸易结合度不稳定等一系列问题。提取了7个影响中国对俄罗斯果蔬产品出口的因素,利用灰色关联度分析法,分析了各自变量与贸易规模之间的关联程度。研究结果表明,在7个影响因素中,供给水平的影响作用最强,需求水平和价格水平、贸易互补性程度位于次强地位,而其余要素的影响程度相对较弱。通过影响因子的关联程度比较,能够指出中俄果蔬产品贸易拓展的侧重点。     

WTO《服务贸易总协定》下报复机制之实证研究

WTO成立以来,共有三起争端涉及GATS项下的报复问题。成员对服务业实施报复的能力、GATS规则解释上的不确定性、GATS四种服务提供模式的结构、服务贸易与外国直接投资的交叉等,使报复的实际进行非常复杂。为有效实施GATS项下的报复,发展中成员必须兼顾报复之经济影响与政治影响:经济影响只是一个方面,必须重视制造政治影响,选择曝光率高且具有政治影响力的服务部门进行报复,促使发达成员执行WTO争端裁决。     

Political economy of the US–Mexican tomato trade agreement

We develop a political economy model to analyse the US–Mexican tomato trade agreement by treating the minimum import price as a negotiated settlement. We incorporate the special characteristics of the US–Mexican tomato dispute, namely trade among large countries, the role of competing fresh and processed tomato lobbies, quota revenues accruing to Mexican producers, bargaining for a minimum import price rather than a tariff, and the role of the Canadian tomato market. We show the importance of the size of the lobby group's supply, the weight elected officials' place on national welfare, and the elasticities of export supply and import demand in determining the optimal price wedge. For the United States, larger fresh tomato or cherry–grape tomato supply intensifies the degree of protection awarded to US growers, while US processors work to mitigate this effect. From Mexico's perspective, larger Mexican fresh or cherry–grape output induces a push towards free trade due to the agreement's depressing effect on Mexican prices, while Mexican processors and quota revenues exacerbate the price wedge.     

服务贸易视角下中日韩贸易竞争与互补分析

作为东亚地区经济发展的核心,中日韩三国服务贸易的发展一直备受关注。日本服务贸易的竞争力水平是中日韩三国中最强的,其次是中国,最后是韩国。中国具有竞争力的行业主要是建筑、电信、计算机和信息以及其他商业服务,韩国具有竞争力的行业主要是旅游和建筑服务,日本具有竞争力的行业主要是运输、建筑、专业权利和特许服务以及政府服务。进一步对中日韩服务贸易的影响因素进行分析发现:人均国内生产总值、外商直接投资、货物贸易出口额和服务贸易开放水平与中日韩服务贸易竞争力水平都呈显著正相关关系,其中,服务贸易开放度水平对中日韩服务贸易竞争力水平的影响最大,外商直接投资对中日韩服务贸易竞争力水平的影响最小。     

Movement of Natural Persons and the GATS

Trade in services has expanded considerably in recent years, However, numerous regulatory barriers constrain such trade, especially when it involves the temporary cross-border movement of labour, also termed, movement of natural persons. Many developing countries have the potential to export services through cross-border movement of professional, semi-skilled and unskilled labour. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) seeks to progressively liberalise trade in services via different modes of supply, including the movement of natural persons. Under the first round of GATS negotiations, member countries have made sectoral and cross-sectoral commitments to promote trade in services for these different modes of supply. This paper discusses the significance of and various constraints to the movement of natural persons in service trade. It also assesses the nature of liberalisation that has occurred in this mode of supply under GATS and notes the limited progress made in this regard. In view of the ongoing round of GATS negotiations, it suggests ways to stregthen the overall GATS framework through greater transparency and specificity in the commitments on movement of natural persons and through the introduction of various multilateral disciplines.     

我国旅游服务贸易竞争力的国际比较

本文采取出口市场占有率指数、贸易竞争力优势指数和显示性比较优势指数,比较分析了我国与其他9个旅游服务贸易强国彼此的旅游服务贸易竞争力的状况。结果表明,我国旅游服务贸易有一定的竞争力,但与先进国家相比还有距离,需要进一步采取有效政策措施,加快提升我国旅游服务贸易的国际竞争力。     

Do WTO+ commitments in services trade agreements reflect a quest for optimal regulatory convergence? Evidence from Asia

Literature examining WTO + commitments in services trade agreements (STA s) has not considered the role of services regulation. We bridge this gap using a sample of 15 South/South‐East Asian countries, given the burgeoning trend of Asian economies towards services preferentialism and the largely WTO + nature of their preferential services commitments. Our empirical findings suggest that Asian trading dyads with regulatory frameworks that are more similar and more trade restrictive tend to undertake higher levels of WTO + commitments in their STA s. There is also evidence in our results, including by modes of supply, for WTO + commitments in Asian STA s being driven by goods trade complementarities, alluding to supply chain dynamics in the region. Such results support the hypothesis that the heightened “servicification” of production generates a demand to lower services input costs arising from regulatory incidence and heterogeneity.     

The new framework for global trade in services – all about GATS

This article is concerned with the globalization of services, and specifically the impact of the new regulatory framework set up under the 1996 General Agreement on Trade in Services. The article sets out the organisation and protocols of GATS and their likely impact on global trade in services. The paper clarifies the role of GATS as not merely to ‘regulate’ trade in services, but to foster the global expansion in services under a fair, transparent set of rules, with procedures for recourse by those governments and enterprises which claim to have been unfairly discriminated against in one or other service sector. The article concludes with some interim comments on the impact and effectiveness of GATS on the business community, and the need for further research in the future.     

中国服务贸易发展现状、问题及对策分析

近年来我国服务贸易取得较快发展,运输、旅游等传统服务贸易增长迅速,但对外技术贸易发展还不尽如人意,与此同时仍存在逆差严重、整体竞争力不足,服务贸易内部结构不合理,出口地及目的地分布不均衡等问题。为解决这些问题,企业应加速自主创新及产业结构优化,加快品牌建设及人才培养,提高服务业信息化水平;政府应进一步构建促进服务贸易发展的管理体系,大力培育新兴服务贸易,建立健全服务贸易法律体系,以促进我国服务贸易持续健康发展。     

The effect of border barriers to services trade on goods trade

This paper has two objectives (a) to introduce border policy-induced barriers (PIBs) to services trade and (b) analyse the impact of border PIBs in services sectors on goods trade. The World Input-Output Database covering 43 countries is used over the period 2000–14. A three-stage analysis is employed. The measures of bilateral services trade barriers calculated in each services sector in the first stage are decomposed into its cultural/geographic and policy-induced parts in the second stage. Border PIBs to services trade are used in the structural gravity estimations of bilateral goods trade in the final stage. The results demonstrate significant and robust adverse effects of barriers to services trade on goods trade. When the level of development is taken into consideration, there are marked differences in the impact of these barriers on goods trade.     

Transition,regulation and trade in services

Market-oriented reforms launched at the beginning of the 1990s have had a profound impact on the restructuring of the service sector in transition economies. Reforms have introduced complex regulatory changes that substantially diminished the barriers to competition in services, thereby improving the supply of services. The article explores the patterns and effects of regulatory changes in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) on services exports in the period 1993–2004. The econometric analysis finds a statistically significant impact of the regulatory reforms on service exports. The effects are more significant for the period 1999–2004 and seem to suggest that efficient implementation of reforms during the accession process had beneficial consequences also for service exports. However, there is enough room for the CEECs to dismantle further the obstacles to services provision and to improve the governance of the service markets within the internal market for services.     

中国服务贸易出口周期波动的实证分析

促进服务贸易出口已经成为我国“十二五”时期重要的对外经济发展战略,而周期波动分析是考察和检测服务贸易出口运行态势的重要方法,但相关研究文献几乎还是空白.基于增长率直接法和增长率趋势法对中国服务贸易出口短周期、中周期、中长周期波动的识别和分析表明,1982年以来我国服务贸易出口经历了11次短周期波动、3次中周期波动和2次中长周期波动.随着经济全球化的不断深化,加强服务贸易出口周期波动和服务贸易出口预警方面的理论研究成为一项艰巨而重要的任务.     

Trade in Services: The Elasticity Approach for The Case of Turkey

This study includes the analysis of global trade in the services and service sector in Turkey, and estimates the elasticity of trade in services to real exchange rates and income. There is an increasing role of the service sector in the Turkish economy; however, a decreasing trend of trade in services is taking place. The commitments of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) were found to be ineffective, at least in the case of Turkey. The empirical findings suggest that the real exchange rate is not a significant determinant for the trade in services. We found an inelastic real exchange rate and income elasticities in trade demand functions. However, the value of income elasticity significantly exceeds the value of real exchange rate elasticity.     

中国服务业外商直接投资与服务贸易的关系——基于VAR模型的实证研究

本文利用VAR模型对中国服务业外商直接投资与服务贸易的关系进行了实证研究,结果表明,只存在服务出口、服务进口分别是服务业外商直接投资的单向Granger原因,服务业外商直接投资并不是服务出口和服务进口的Granger原因。从长期来看,服务业外商直接投资与服务出口、服务进口均是替代关系,短期来看,服务业外商直接投资与服务出口、服务进口是较弱的互补关系。     

GATS下自然人流动对美国服务贸易进出口的影响——基于引力模型的实证分析

文章利用修正后的引力模型研究美国自然人流动对其服务贸易进出口的影响,实证结果表明,自然人流动对服务出口有较大的促进作用,对服务进口的带动作用却不明显。综合自然人流动对双边服务贸易的影响,文章认为自然人流动自由化对服务贸易的促进作用远大于对货物贸易的带动作用。