Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services : Evidence from a New Database
Surprisingly little is known about policies that affect international trade in services. Previous analyses have focused on policy commitments made by countries in international agreements, but in many cases, these commitments do not reflect actual policy. This paper describes a new initiative to col...
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Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22561 |
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okr-10986-225612021-04-23T14:04:09Z Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services : Evidence from a New Database Borchert, Ingo Gootiiz, Batshur Mattoo, Aaditya air passenger air services automobile automobile insurance freight maritime transport passenger services passenger transport rail railway sector transportation transportation service Surprisingly little is known about policies that affect international trade in services. Previous analyses have focused on policy commitments made by countries in international agreements, but in many cases, these commitments do not reflect actual policy. This paper describes a new initiative to collect comparable information on trade policies for services from 103 countries across a range of service sectors and relevant modes of service delivery. The resulting database reveals interesting policy patterns. Although public monopolies are now rare and few services markets are completely closed, we observe numerous “second-generation” restrictions on entry, ownership, and operations. Even in instances in which there is little explicit discrimination against foreign providers, market access is often unpredictable because the allocation of new licenses remains opaque and highly discretionary in many countries. Across regions, some of the fastest-growing countries in Asia and the oil-rich Gulf states have restrictive policies in services, whereas some of the poorest countries are remarkably open. Across sectors, professional and transportation services are among the most protected industries in both industrial and developing countries, whereas retail, telecommunications, and even finance tend to be more open. 2015-08-28T19:10:36Z 2015-08-28T19:10:36Z 2014-01-23 Journal Article World Bank Economic Review 1564-698X http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22561 en_US CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article Asia Europe European Union Middle East |
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Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
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World Bank |
| language |
en_US |
| topic |
air passenger air services automobile automobile insurance freight maritime transport passenger services passenger transport rail railway sector transportation transportation service |
| spellingShingle |
air passenger air services automobile automobile insurance freight maritime transport passenger services passenger transport rail railway sector transportation transportation service Borchert, Ingo Gootiiz, Batshur Mattoo, Aaditya Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services : Evidence from a New Database |
| geographic_facet |
Asia Europe European Union Middle East |
| description |
Surprisingly little is known about policies that affect international trade in services. Previous analyses have focused on policy commitments made by countries in international agreements, but in many cases, these commitments do not reflect actual policy. This paper describes a new initiative to collect comparable information on trade policies for services from 103 countries across a range of service sectors and relevant modes of service delivery. The resulting database reveals interesting policy patterns. Although public monopolies are now rare and few services markets are completely closed, we observe numerous “second-generation” restrictions on entry, ownership, and operations. Even in instances in which there is little explicit discrimination against foreign providers, market access is often unpredictable because the allocation of new licenses remains opaque and highly discretionary in many countries. Across regions, some of the fastest-growing countries in Asia and the oil-rich Gulf states have restrictive policies in services, whereas some of the poorest countries are remarkably open. Across sectors, professional and transportation services are among the most protected industries in both industrial and developing countries, whereas retail, telecommunications, and even finance tend to be more open. |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Borchert, Ingo Gootiiz, Batshur Mattoo, Aaditya |
| author_facet |
Borchert, Ingo Gootiiz, Batshur Mattoo, Aaditya |
| author_sort |
Borchert, Ingo |
| title |
Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services : Evidence from a New Database |
| title_short |
Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services : Evidence from a New Database |
| title_full |
Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services : Evidence from a New Database |
| title_fullStr |
Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services : Evidence from a New Database |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services : Evidence from a New Database |
| title_sort |
policy barriers to international trade in services : evidence from a new database |
| publisher |
Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank |
| publishDate |
2015 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22561 |
| _version_ |
1764451421045915648 |