The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter?

Little progress has been made to date in using the GATS framework to lock-in already implemented unilateral reforms, let alone in inducing new liberalization. The same is true for rule-making efforts. A number of potential explanations for the lack of traction are identified and assessed. These incl...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Hoekman, Bernard
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Subjects:	Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 Industry Studies: Services: General L800
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5837

id	okr-10986-5837
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-58372021-04-23T14:02:23Z The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter? Hoekman, Bernard Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 Industry Studies: Services: General L800 Little progress has been made to date in using the GATS framework to lock-in already implemented unilateral reforms, let alone in inducing new liberalization. The same is true for rule-making efforts. A number of potential explanations for the lack of traction are identified and assessed. These include limited feasibility of using the reciprocity mechanism to mobilize domestic export interests; less need for reciprocity to achieve global welfare improvements in policy; weaknesses in domestic regulatory capacity; and uncertainty/asymmetries regarding the magnitude and distribution of costs and benefits of policy reforms. All these factors play a role in reducing the scope for the GATS to be an effective instrument to help governments overcome domestic and international policy externalities. Changes in negotiating modalities and focus could help strengthen the relevance of the GATS as an instrument of multilateral cooperation. 2012-03-30T07:34:47Z 2012-03-30T07:34:47Z 2008 Journal Article Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade 15661679 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5837 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
topic	Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 Industry Studies: Services: General L800
spellingShingle	Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 Industry Studies: Services: General L800 Hoekman, Bernard The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter?
relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description	Little progress has been made to date in using the GATS framework to lock-in already implemented unilateral reforms, let alone in inducing new liberalization. The same is true for rule-making efforts. A number of potential explanations for the lack of traction are identified and assessed. These include limited feasibility of using the reciprocity mechanism to mobilize domestic export interests; less need for reciprocity to achieve global welfare improvements in policy; weaknesses in domestic regulatory capacity; and uncertainty/asymmetries regarding the magnitude and distribution of costs and benefits of policy reforms. All these factors play a role in reducing the scope for the GATS to be an effective instrument to help governments overcome domestic and international policy externalities. Changes in negotiating modalities and focus could help strengthen the relevance of the GATS as an instrument of multilateral cooperation.
format	Journal Article
author	Hoekman, Bernard
author_facet	Hoekman, Bernard
author_sort	Hoekman, Bernard
title	The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter?
title_short	The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter?
title_full	The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter?
title_fullStr	The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter?
title_full_unstemmed	The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter?
title_sort	general agreement on trade in services : doomed to fail? does it matter?
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5837
_version_	1764396493207240704

The General Agreement on Trade in Services : Doomed to Fail? Does It Matter?

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