The Evolution of Services Trade Policy Since the Great Recession

Borchert, Ingo ; Magdeleine, Joscelyn ; Marchetti, Juan A. ; Mattoo, Aaditya

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: SERVICES TRADE;    TRADE IN SERVICES;    TRADE POLICY;    TRADE RESTRICTIONS;    SERVICES TRADE POLICY DATABASE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-9265
RP-ID  :  WPS9265

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Are changes in services marketsprovoking reform, restrictions, or inertia? To address thisquestion, this paper draws on a new World Bank-World TradeOrganization Services Trade Policy Database. The paperanalyzes the services trade policies of 68 economies in 23subsectors across five broad areas -- financial services,telecommunications, distribution, transportation, andprofessional services. Policy measures are quantified into aServices Trade Restrictions Index (STRI) following a novel,consistent and transparent framework. The paper identifiespatterns of services trade policies across sectors andeconomies, and secular trends over the past decade. Higherincome economies are still more open on average thandeveloping economies, but the chronology of reform differsmarkedly across sectors. In telecommunications and finance,there is convergence toward greater openness driven byliberalization in the previously more restrictive developingeconomies. In the hitherto universally protected transportand professional services, there is policy divergence, assome higher income economies pioneer reform. But whileexplicit restrictions are being lowered in most servicessectors—in contrast to recent developments in goods tradepolicy -- there is greater recourse to regulatory scrutiny,especially in higher income economies. These measures couldreflect legitimate prudential or security concerns, but theycould also reflect recourse to less transparent forms of protection.