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WTO Working Papers
WTO working papers usually represent research in progress. Such research may be conducted in the preparation of WTO Secretariat reports, studies or other material for WTO members. The papers are circulated for comment because the WTO considers critical review of professional research to be extremely important.
21 - 40 of 286 results
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Trade Finance, Gaps and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Publication Date: February 2021More LessDevelopments in trade finance in 2020 were largely driven by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Twelve years after the great financial crisis of 2008-09, the issue of trade finance re-emerged as a matter of urgency. While the current pandemic-related crisis did not have a financial cause, one of its results has been that many countries are experiencing difficulties in accessing trade credit. This is occurring notably in countries – particularly developing countries – in which structural trade finance gaps were high even before the pandemic
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Intellectual Property and Digital Trade Mapping International Regulatory Responses to Emerging Issues
Publication Date: February 2021More LessThis paper explores how regulatory responses to emerging IP issues in digital trade may develop at the international level and in particular how existing mechanisms might influence the chances of developing internationally agreed rules in this regard. The primacy of state sovereignty in intellectual property up to the late 19th century gave way to the important WIPO treaties, which still retained some independence of member states and based international regulatory responses directly on national experience. While more regulatory sovereignty was ceded in TRIPS, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, the adoption of non-binding instruments (such as the WIPO Joint Recommendations in the area of trademarks) show the limits of decision making by consensus.
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COVID-19 and Global Value Chains
Publication Date: January 2021More LessSince the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a discussion among researchers and policy makers about changes to global value chains, both about expected changes and changes that should be promoted by government policies. In this paper we conduct an in-depth analysis of the reasons for changes in global value chains as a result of COVID-19 both from a positive angle, analysing expected changes in the behaviour of firms, and from a normative angle, assessing the different arguments for policy interventions by governments. After this analysis international cooperation of trade policies and the role of WTO in crises like the COVID-19 pandemic is explored.
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Trade Costs in the Global Economy
Publication Date: January 2021More LessProper measurement and aggregation of trade costs is of paramount importance for sound academic and policy analysis of the determinants - particularly those of policy - of economic outcomes. The international trade profession has witnessed signifcant new developments, both on the theoretical and on the empirical side, concerning the measurement and decomposition of such costs into variable and fixed costs on the one hand and into partial and general equilibrium effects on the other hand.
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WTO Accession and Growth: Tang and Wei Redux
Publication Date: January 2021More LessOn the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the WTO, this paper re-estimates the impact of WTO accession on growth. Joining the multilateral trading system not only expands access to international markets but also requires commitment to domestic reforms. Tang and Wei (2009) showed that there is in fact a positive effect of WTO on growth also during the period of accession when these commitments are undertaken.
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The value of the Committee on Agriculture
Publication Date: December 2020More LessWhat is the value of the WTO Committee on Agriculture? How much trade do countries talk about at the WTO? Do low-income countries participate less than they should in the work of the Committee? How important are issues not covered by notifications? What are the most important issues on which to focus negotiations?
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The Shifting Contours of Trade in Knowledge
Publication Date: December 2020More LessThis paper charts the evolution and diversification of trade in knowledge that has taken place in the quarter-century since the WTO TRIPS Agreement came into force. Entirely new markets have come into being, potentially redefining the very character of 'trade'.
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Illicit Trade and Infectious Diseases
Publication Date: November 2020More LessWe collect a novel dataset that covers about 130 countries and the six four-digit live animal categories in the Harmonized System (HS) over a sixteen-year period, to study the link between illicit trade in live animals and threat to animal health from infectious diseases.
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Patent-Related Actions taken in WTO Members in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Publication Date: October 2020More LessCOVID-19, caused by SARS-Cov-2, was declared to be a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020. Since then, the issue of the relationship between patent protection and the development of and access to medical treatments and technologies – a longstanding and enduringly important public policy issue – has become central to the debate on the linkages between IP, innovation, access, and public health between stakeholders with divergent interests.
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International Trade in Travel and Tourism Services
Publication Date: September 2020More LessIn this paper, we investigate tourism-related policy approaches that WTO member countries adopted in the early weeks of the COVID-19 crisis. We highlight the need for stakeholders to coordinate their responses in order to mitigate the negative crisis effects and better prepare the sector for the future. In doing so, we explore the economic impact of potential tourism scenarios, underlining both the demand and supply side effects of the crisis.
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Trade Policies for a Circular Economy
Publication Date: June 2020More LessFrom its initial focus on minimizing waste generation, the circular economy has evolved into a broad-based approach to make resource use more sustainable. A big part of the appeal of a circular economy is the opportunities it creates not only for resource savings and better human health and environmental outcomes, but also for trade and economic diversification.
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The Role of WTO Committees through the Lens of Specific Trade Concerns Raised in the TBT Committee
Publication Date: May 2020More LessIn this paper we provide some evidence of the common claim that STCs improve transparency and monitoring as well as help mitigate trade conflicts.
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Trade and Environment
Publication Date: March 2020More LessIn order to ensure transparency and to keep abreast of trade policies in support of sustainability, the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) mandated the WTO Secretariat to compile and collate all environment-related measures notified to WTO. The database also includes environment-related entries found in Trade Policy Reviews (TPRs).
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An Economic Analysis of the US-China Trade Conflict
Publication Date: March 2020More LessThis paper provides an economic analysis of the trade conflict between the US and China, providing an overview of the tariff increases, a discussion of the background of the trade conflict, and an analysis of the economic effects of the trade conflict, based both on empirics (ex post analysis) and on simulations (ex ante analysis).
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Protectionnisme dans l'assurance et la réassurance africaine
Publication Date: March 2020More LessLe concept d'assurance est fondé sur la mutualisation de risques futurs aléatoires moyennant le paiement en amont d'une contribution financière par le client (la prime d'assurance). Pour être effective, l'assurance suppose une confiance élevée de la part des clients dans la capacité des fournisseurs d'assurance (les compagnies d'assurance) à payer les dommages lorsqu'ils se matérialisent. Sinon, les clients ne payeraient pas leurs primes aux compagnies d'assurance.
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The Development of Trade Policies in the Asia and Pacific Region Over the Past 30 Years Since 1989
Publication Date: February 2020More LessThis paper reviews the main developments of trade and related policies and measures in the Asia and Pacific region during the 30 years since establishment, in 1989, of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). The objectives of the TPRM include facilitating the smooth functioning of the multilateral trading system by enhancing the transparency of WTO Members' trade policies.
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Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead for the WTO Trade Monitoring Exercise
Publication Date: February 2020More LessA little over a decade has passed since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. Shortly after the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank, an internal Secretariat Task Force was established by the WTO Director-General to monitor the trade-related developments associated with the crisis. Meeting in London in early 2009, the G20 Leaders mandated the WTO, together with other international bodies, to monitor and report publicly on G20 adherence to resisting protectionism and promoting global trade and investment. Since then, 22 G20 reports and 24 WTO-wide reports have been published.
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The WTO's TPR Coverage of SPS Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa
Publication Date: February 2020More LessThe main purpose of the paper is to present the coverage of SPS systems in SSA countries by TPR reports, and their main findings. It also opens the discussion as to whether the SPS analytical framework in TPR reports has been sufficiently comprehensive and beneficial in guiding technical assistance (TPR follow-up) activities in SSA. At the outset, we briefly present the strategic importance of agriculture in SSA countries, with a description of the link between an effective SPS regulatory system and the performance of agriculture.
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The evolution of services trade policy since the great recession
Publication Date: February 2020More LessAre changes in services markets provoking reform, restrictions, or inertia? To address this question, we draw upon a new World Bank-WTO Services Trade Policy Database (STPD) to analyse the services trade policies of 68 economies in 23 subsectors across five broad areas—financial services, telecommunications, distribution, transportation and professional services, respectively.
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Gender-specific differences in geographical mobility
Publication Date: January 2020More LessThe gains from trade depend on the reallocation of resources, including labour, across firms and sectors. However, workers are unlikely to be fully mobile since there are barriers to sectoral and geographical mobility due to social reasons such as family or existing private and professional networks. If these barriers depend on specific characteristics of workers, such as education, gender or race, this has important implications for inequality.
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