Help or Hindrance? The Impact of Harmonized Standards on African Exports

Czubala, Witold ; Shepherd, Ben ; Wilson, John S.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESSION;    ARTICLE;    BENCHMARK;    BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASE;    CATALOG;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4400
RP-ID  :  WPS4400

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 authors test the hypothesis thatproduct standards harmonized to de facto internationalstandards are less trade restrictive than ones that are not.To do this, the authors construct a new database of EuropeanUnion (EU) product standards.The authors identifystandards that are aligned with ISO standards (as a proxyfor de facto international norms). The authors use asample-selection gravity model to examine the impact of EUstandards on African textiles and clothing exports, a sectorof particular development interest. The authors find robustevidence that non-harmonized standards reduce Africanexports of these products. EU standards which are harmonizedto ISO standards are less trade restricting.Our resultssuggest that efforts to promote African exports ofmanufactures may need to be complemented by measures toreduce the cost impacts of product standards, includinginternational harmonization.In addition, efforts toharmonize national standards with international norms,including through the World Trade Organization TechnicalBarriers to Trade Agreement, promise concrete benefitsthrough trade expansion.