Assessing the Potential Benefitof Trade Facilitation: A Global Perspective

Wilson, John S. ; Mann, Catherine L. ; Otsuki, Tsunehiro

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

关键词: AD VALOREM;    AIR TRANSPORT;    APPLIED TARIFF;    BILATERAL TRADE;    BORDER TRADE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3224
RP-ID  :  WPS3224

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The relationships between tradefacilitation, trade flows, and capacity building are complexand challenging to assess, both empirically and inimplementation. The authors measure and estimate therelationship between trade facilitation and trade flowsacross 75 countries in global trade, considering fourimportant categories: port efficiency, customs environment,regulatory environment, and service sector infrastructure. Agravity model is employed that accounts for bilateral tradeflows in manufactured goods in 2000-01 between the 75countries, using traditional factors such as GDP, distance,language, and trade areas, and is augmented by the tradefacilitation measures in the four categories for eachcountry. The results suggest that both imports and exportsfor a country and for the world will increase withimprovements in these trade facilitation measures. Potentialgains from trade facilitation reforms are predicted by usingthe estimated parameters. The gains from trade facilitationare presented by comparing the gains across geographicalregions and trade facilitation categories, and by domesticand partner improvements. The total gain in trade flow inmanufacturing goods from trade facilitation improvements inall the four areas is estimated to be $377 billion. Allregions gain in imports and exports. Most regions gain morein terms of exports than imports, in large part throughincreasing exports to the OECD market. The most importantingredient in getting these gains, particularly to the OECDmarket, is the country's own trade facilitationefforts. The detailed presentation of the results of theanalysis may help inform policy decisions and capacitybuilding choices.