Services Trade Liberalization and Regulatory Reform : Re-invigorating International Cooperation

Hoekman, Bernard ; Mattoo, Aaditya

关键词: ABUSE;    ACCOUNTING;    ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES;    AGRICULTURE;    ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5517
RP-ID  :  WPS5517

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Trade and investment in services areinhibited by a range of policy restrictions, but the bestoffers so far in the Doha negotiations are on average twiceas restrictive as actual policy. They will generate noadditional market opening. Regulatory concerns help explainthe limited progress. This paper develops two proposals toenhance the prospects for both liberalization of servicestrade and regulatory reform. The first is for governments tocreate mechanisms ("services knowledge platforms")to bring together regulators, trade officials, andstakeholders to discuss services regulatory reform. Suchmechanisms could identify reform priorities andopportunities for utilization of "aid for trade"resources, thereby putting in place the preconditions forfuture market opening. The second proposal is for a newapproach to negotiations in the World Trade Organization,with a critical mass of countries that account for the bulkof services production agreeing to lock-in applied levels ofprotection and pre-committing to reform of policiesaffecting foreign direct investment and internationalmovement for individual service providers -- two areas wherecurrent policy is most restrictive and potential benefitsfrom liberalization are greatest. If these proposals cannotbe fully implemented in the Doha time frame, then any Dohaagreement could at least lay the basis for a forward-lookingprogram of international cooperation along the proposed lines.