Horizontal Depth : A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements

Preferential trade agreements are an important feature of the global trade system. Several questions, ranging from the rationale for preferential arrangements to their impact on members, non-members and the broader multilateral trade system, are at...

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Main Authors: Hofmann, Claudia, Osnago, Alberto, Ruta, Michele
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/700771487791538589/Horizontal-depth-a-new-database-on-the-content-of-preferential-trade-agreements
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26148
id okr-10986-26148
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-261482022-09-17T12:16:35Z Horizontal Depth : A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements Hofmann, Claudia Osnago, Alberto Ruta, Michele preferential trade agreements trade policy regional integration regional trade multilateral trade WTO deep integration legally enforceable provisions competition policy intellectual property rights investment capital flows Preferential trade agreements are an important feature of the global trade system. Several questions, ranging from the rationale for preferential arrangements to their impact on members, non-members and the broader multilateral trade system, are at the forefront of academic and policy debates in trade policy. This paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it presents a new database that offers a detailed assessment of the content of preferential arrangements, examining the coverage and legal enforceability of provisions. The database covers 279 agreements signed by 189 countries between 1958 and 2015, which reflects the entire set of preferential trade agreements in force and notified to the World Trade Organization as of 2015. Second, the paper presents some novel stylized facts on preferential arrangements based on the analysis of the data. The key insight is that preferential trade agreements became deeper over time. A growing number of these treaties cover an extended set of policy areas, frequently with legally enforceable provisions, in areas under the current World Trade Organization mandate and in four leading areas outside the current World Trade Organization mandate: competition policy, investment, movements of capital, and intellectual property rights protection. Accounting for the changing coverage of preferential trade agreements, that is, their “horizontal depth,” is essential to gain a more complete and accurate understanding of where the global trading system is going and how its governance can be improved. 2017-02-22T23:13:01Z 2017-02-22T23:13:01Z 2017-02 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/700771487791538589/Horizontal-depth-a-new-database-on-the-content-of-preferential-trade-agreements http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26148 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7981 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic preferential trade agreements
trade policy
regional integration
regional trade
multilateral trade
WTO
deep integration
legally enforceable provisions
competition policy
intellectual property rights
investment
capital flows
spellingShingle preferential trade agreements
trade policy
regional integration
regional trade
multilateral trade
WTO
deep integration
legally enforceable provisions
competition policy
intellectual property rights
investment
capital flows
Hofmann, Claudia
Osnago, Alberto
Ruta, Michele
Horizontal Depth : A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7981
description Preferential trade agreements are an important feature of the global trade system. Several questions, ranging from the rationale for preferential arrangements to their impact on members, non-members and the broader multilateral trade system, are at the forefront of academic and policy debates in trade policy. This paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it presents a new database that offers a detailed assessment of the content of preferential arrangements, examining the coverage and legal enforceability of provisions. The database covers 279 agreements signed by 189 countries between 1958 and 2015, which reflects the entire set of preferential trade agreements in force and notified to the World Trade Organization as of 2015. Second, the paper presents some novel stylized facts on preferential arrangements based on the analysis of the data. The key insight is that preferential trade agreements became deeper over time. A growing number of these treaties cover an extended set of policy areas, frequently with legally enforceable provisions, in areas under the current World Trade Organization mandate and in four leading areas outside the current World Trade Organization mandate: competition policy, investment, movements of capital, and intellectual property rights protection. Accounting for the changing coverage of preferential trade agreements, that is, their “horizontal depth,” is essential to gain a more complete and accurate understanding of where the global trading system is going and how its governance can be improved.
format Working Paper
author Hofmann, Claudia
Osnago, Alberto
Ruta, Michele
author_facet Hofmann, Claudia
Osnago, Alberto
Ruta, Michele
author_sort Hofmann, Claudia
title Horizontal Depth : A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements
title_short Horizontal Depth : A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements
title_full Horizontal Depth : A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements
title_fullStr Horizontal Depth : A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements
title_full_unstemmed Horizontal Depth : A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements
title_sort horizontal depth : a new database on the content of preferential trade agreements
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/700771487791538589/Horizontal-depth-a-new-database-on-the-content-of-preferential-trade-agreements
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26148
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