Economic research and trade policy analysis
Services Domestic Regulation
Services is the fastest-growing sector of today's global economy and trade in services is the most dynamic segment of world trade. However its potential remains constrained by a variety of barriers: trade costs are estimated to be almost double those in goods and more than 40% of trade costs are accounted for by regulation-related factors. Regulatory measures related to the permission to supply a service i.e. those related to licensing and qualifications requirements and procedures and technical standards can particularly affect service suppliers' ability to trade. With a view to mitigating the unintended trade-restrictive effects of such measures since 2017 a group of Members has been negotiating a set of regulatory disciplines in the context of the Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation.
Assessing the Supply Chain Effect of Natural Disasters
This paper uses Chinese firm level data to detect the international propagation of adverse shocks triggered by the US hurricane season in 2005. We provide evidence that Chinese processing manufacturers with tight trade linkages to the United States reduced their intermediate imports from the United States between July and October 2005.
Indicative list of trade-related bottlenecks and trade-facilitating measures on critical products to combat covid-19
This information note seeks to facilitate access to information on possible trade-related bottlenecks and trade-facilitating measures on critical products to combat COVID-19 including inputs used in vaccine manufacturing vaccine distribution and approval therapeutics and pharmaceuticals diagnostics and medical devices. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all specific trade barriers nor does it make any judgement on the existence or importance of bottlenecks nor on the desirability of implementing any of the suggestions on trade-facilitating measures.
Joint Indicative List of Critical COVID-19 Vaccine Inputs for Consultation
The WTO Secretariat has published an indicative list compiling information on the critical inputs for the manufacturing distributing and administering of COVID-19 vaccines. The list was jointly produced with the Asian Development Bank the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development the World Customs Organization some COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers researchers Chad Bown and Chris Rogers the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and DHL.
Improving trade data for products essential to fight covid-19
Improving trade data on products needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic — including vaccines and their components — is key to ensuring that the right policies are in place to facilitate their distribution according to a new information note issued by the WTO Secretariat on 1 July.
“Agricultural Products” and “Fishery Products” in the GATT and WTO
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture applies to those “agricultural products” as defined in its Annex 1. This definition expressly excludes “fish and fish products” from the scope of application of the Agreement. In light of this exclusion the paper is intended to provide a historical account of the relationship between agricultural products and fishery products in the context of the negotiations leading to and during the GATT period up to the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and some of its implications for WTO negotiations.
Buena Vista Social Corporate Responsibility Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an integral part of many companies' business strategy. A detailed analysis of 579 RTAs including 305 agreements currently in force and notified to the WTO (as of December 2020) reveals that a limited but increasing number of RTAs namely 65 agreements refer explicitly to CSR. These CSR-related provisions are particularly heterogeneous in terms of location in the RTA language scope and commitments.
The Impact of Services Liberalization on Education
This paper studies the impact of services liberalization on education and the gender education gap at the district level in India. We focus on the time period 1987 to 1999 and three services sectors - banking insurance and telecommunications - which were all state monopolies have been heavily liberalized in the time frame studied have relatively high shares of female employment and require high education investments. Our hypothesis is that the national-level liberalization spurred higher investment in education particularly girls’ education in districts with higher employment growth in these key services sectors.
Africa’s Integration in the WTO Multilateral Trading System
The Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO recognizes the need for positive efforts designed to ensure that developing countries and especially the least developed among them secure a share in the growth in international trade commensurate with the needs of their economic development.This article discusses how the WTO contributes to facilitating Africa’s integration into the WTO multilateral trading system. It is argued that while African countries are actively engaged in the work of the WTO securing their economic and policy interests some main challenges remain. These include the need to further diversify production linking to the Global Value Chains and developing adequate infra-structures facilitating digital trade as a vehicle for economic growth.
The Evolution of Gender-Related Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
Regional Trade agreements (RTAs) are sometimes considered as laboratories in which new types of provisions are negotiated to address recent trade-related issues. Although the inclusion of gender-related provisions in RTAs is not a recent phenomenon only a limited but increasing number of RTAs refer explicitly to gender-related issues. These gender-related provisions are highly heterogeneous and differ in terms of location in the RTA language scope and commitments. Some of the most detailed gender-related provisions are found in stand-alone chapters on gender. Cooperation provisions on gender-related issues including labour health and social policy remain the most common type of gender-related provisions found in RTAs.
Hold the Line: The Evolution of Telecommunications Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
Based on the first comprehensive mapping of telecommunications provisions telecommunications in regional trade agreements (RTAs) this paper shows that telecommunications provisions in RTAs have evolved and expanded significantly over the years. While some provisions focus on information and communications technologies (ICT) infrastructure policy and investment other provisions address telecommunications services as well as standards and conformity assessment procedures of ICT equipment. The most detailed and comprehensive telecommunications provisions are found in stand-alone chapters sections or annexes on telecommunications services. A network analysis further reveals that telecommunications provisions remain highly heterogenous.
The WTO Global Trade Costs Index and Its Determinants
This study provides a decomposition of the WTO Global Trade Costs Index into five policy-relevant components: transport and travel costs; information and transaction costs; ICT connectedness; trade policy and regulatory differences; and governance quality. The WTO Global Trade Costs Index is based on a new methodology by Egger et al. (2021) that delivers directional trade cost estimates and sector-specific elasticities which are crucial for inferring trade costs from trade flows data. The resulting measure of trade costs includes all factors that burden foreign sales more than domestic ones. In this study we run a sectoral regression analysis to determine what drives trade costs variation across partners and use the results to decompose the variation in trade costs in each sector.
Trade Finance, Gaps and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Developments 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
Intellectual Property and Digital Trade Mapping International Regulatory Responses to Emerging Issues
This 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.
WTO Accession and Growth: Tang and Wei Redux
On 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.
COVID-19 and Global Value Chains
Since 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.
Trade Costs in the Global Economy
Proper 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.
Trade in Medical Goods in the Context of Tackling COVID-19
The WTO Secretariat has published an update of the information note on trade in medical goods in the context of tackling COVID-19 which was first issued on 3 April. The update looks at developments that took place in the first half of 2020.
Developing and Delivering COVID-19 Vaccines Around the World
The WTO Secretariat has published a new information note on trade-related issues for COVID-19 vaccine production manufacturing and deployment. The note entitled “Developing and delivering COVID-19 vaccines around the world” explores how trade policy can play its part in ensuring the rapid roll-out of vaccines against COVID-19.
Developing & Delivering COVID-19 Vaccines Around the World
The WTO Secretariat has published a new information note on trade-related issues for COVID-19 vaccine production manufacturing and deployment. The note entitled “Developing and delivering COVID-19 vaccines around the world” explores how trade policy can play its part in ensuring the rapid roll-out of vaccines against COVID-19.