Information technology and e-commerce
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The effects of trade liberalization under the ITA
Since its entry into force in July 1997 the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) has eliminated tariffs on a range of information technology products with an annual value of US$ 1.7 trillion by 2015.
Key statistics and trends in ITA trade
Between 1996 and 2015 ITA world exports more than tripled reaching US$ 1.7 trillion and representing 15 per cent of total world manufactures exports exceeding shares of automotive products textiles and clothing and pharmaceuticals.
ITA expansion
Over the past 20 years the information and communications technology (ICT) sector has evolved dramatically. Many ICT products have undergone rapid technological developments with new products and production methods entering and transforming the marketplace.
Foreword by WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo
2017 marks the twentieth anniversary of the WTO's Information Technology Agreement (ITA). The ITA was a landmark deal for the global trading system not only because it was the first to be signed after the establishment of the WTO in 1995 but also because it has helped to support and facilitate the phenomenal growth of trade in the information technology sector.
20 Years of the Information Technology Agreement
Over the past 20 years the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) has increased worldwide access to high-tech goods such as computers mobile phones and semiconductors. It has also contributed to greater access to the Internet and the growth of the digital economy creating new opportunities for businesses and individuals in both developed and developing economies. Finalized at the first WTO Ministerial Conference in 1996 the ITA commits its participants to eliminating tariffs on a wide range of IT products with an annual value of approximately US$ 1.7 trillion. To mark the 20th anniversary of the ITA this publication analyses the impact of the ITA on its participants and on worldwide trade in IT products. It demonstrates how the Agreement has not only made high-tech products more affordable but has also helped to promote innovation and to support developing economies’ integration into global production networks. The publication also reviews new developments such as the landmark deal concluded in 2015 to eliminate tariffs on an additional 201 IT products valued at over $1.3 trillion per year. Finally it highlights what still needs to be done to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of providing universal and affordable access to the Internet so that the benefits of the digital revolution can be enjoyed by all.
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer
This publication was prepared by Xiaobing Tang and Roberta Lascari under the direction of Suja Rishikesh Mavroidis Director of the Market Access Division.
Understanding Supply Chain 4.0 and its potential impact on global value chains
The reorganization of supply chains using advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) big data analytics and autonomous robotics is transforming the model of supply chain management from a linear one in which instructions flow from supplier to producer to distributor to consumer and back to a more integrated model in which information flows in an omnidirectional manner to the supply chain. While e-commerce is uniquely suited to many of these techniques they also hold the promise of improving efficiency in brick-and-mortar stores. These technologies are generating enormous benefits through reducing costs making production more responsive to consumer demand boosting employment (employment in supply chain sectors where such technologies are most likely to be applied has grown much more rapidly than in other supply chain sectors and in the economy as a whole) and saving consumers’ time. The impact of these technologies on the length of supply chains is uncertain: they may reduce the length of supply chains by encouraging the reshoring of manufacturing production to high-income economies thus reducing opportunities for developing countries to participate in GVCs or they may strengthen GVCs by reducing coordination and matching costs.
Trade, value chains and labor markets in advanced economies
Trade is a major source of employment. Nevertheless trade has recently been caught in the crossfire in discussions around the decline of manufacturing employment and the polarization of labor markets in advanced economies. In this chapter we examine what the academic literature has to say on the relationship between trade and labor markets with a specific focus on studies with a value chain perspective. We find that trade has only modest effects on aggregate employment and is unlikely to have been a major contributor to the decline of manufacturing. However the effects vary considerably across regions and individuals with different skill levels. This implies that policy has a central role to play in making sure that the gains from trade are shared evenly. Our findings highlight that a value chain perspective is important for assessing the impact of trade on labor markets. The emergence of value chains has strengthened linkages between sectors magnified trade’s impact on skill demand and requires novel trade statistics. Ignoring this leads to a biased view of trade and overestimates its role in the decline of manufacturing employment.
Foreword
There are different ways to analyze the global economy. One is to view it through the lens of growth and structural change in individual economies developed and developing. A second is to use the lens of global value chains (GVCs) the complex network structure of flows of goods services capital and technology across national borders. Both are useful and they are complementary to one another.
Executive summary
More than two-thirds of world trade occurs through global value chains (GVCs) in which production crosses at least one border and typically many borders before final assembly. The phenomenal growth in GVC-related trade has translated into significant economic growth in many countries across the globe over the last two decades fueled by reductions in transportation and communication costs and declining trade barriers. But at the same time it has contributed to distributional effects that mean that the benefits of trade have not always accrued to all which has at least in part been a driver in the backlash against globalization and the rise of protectionism and threats to global and regional trade agreements. In addition new technological developments such as robotics big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) are beginning to reshape and further transform GVCs. This second GVC development report takes stock of the recent evolution of GVC trade in light of these developments.
Improving the accounting frameworks for analyses of global value chains
The use of global input-output tables and the creation of Trade in Value-Added (TiVA) statistics has greatly improved our understanding of the fragmentation of global production through value chains. However their application requires a number of assumptions that in practice typically understate the degree of interconnectedness. TiVA estimates implicitly assume identical production functions across firms within an industry when in reality production functions differ considerably. Typically larger (and foreign-owned) firms tend to be more trade oriented than smaller (and domestically-owned) firms. As a result TiVA statistics underestimate the import content of exports for the economy as a whole a key indicator characterizing global production. Moreover TiVA analyses are based on basic price concepts which provide an appropriate view of production through value chains but are less well equipped to analyse consumption particularly as they exclude significant distribution margins (in particular retail and wholesale activities often including marketing activities and brands) which add value at the end of the chain. This can distort analyses using “smile curves” which show the distance from final demand of different sectors within value chains and in turn understate the scale of jobs supported by trade.
Technological progress, diffusion, and opportunities for developing countries: lessons from China
The nature of technology used in products plays a major role in determining the governance structure of value chains and the benefits of participation for developing countries. Standardization through breaking production into modules with a high degree of functional autonomy (limited mutual interference between modules) can dramatically reduce the amount of research and development (R&D) learning by doing and the number of complementary skills needed to produce a good. This greatly increases opportunities for developing country firms to participate in formerly capital-intensive industries through reducing entry costs into global value chains. However widespread access to standardized products with little ability to modify technical features can lead to an excessive supply of homogeneous products in a local market resulting in intense price competition and limited technology transfer. By contrast technology that facilitates scope for product modification and greater interaction with technology owners can help boost technology transfer and product upgrading by developing country firms. The chapter illustrates this interaction between changes in technology and opportunities for developing countries through developments in the automotive and mobile phone handset industries with a particular reference to China’s growth experience. It also finds that automation is likely to have only a limited impact on developing countries’ opportunities to participate in value chains through the offshoring of production by high-income countries at least in the short term.
The digital economy, GVCs and SMEs
Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent the vast majority of firms worldwide their participation in international trade remains limited relative to their share of overall economic activity and employment as compared to large firms. The rise of the digital economy could however open a range of new opportunities for small firms to play a more active role in global value chains (GVCs). This chapter reviews evidence of SME participation in international trade and production networks and looks at how the digitalization of our economies is already affecting or could affect future SME contributions to GVCs. New research by Lanz et al. (2018) finds evidence that digitally-connected SMEs in developing countries tend to import a higher share of their inputs than non-digitally-connected firms. Additionally it is shown that this positive digital effect is greater for SMEs than it is for large firms. The chapter reviews the various opportunities that the digital economy opens for SMEs especially in terms of cost reductions and the emergence of new business models but also discusses policy measures that could be taken to promote SME participation in GVCs. Indeed significant challenges remain for SMEs to enter GVCs some of which are exacerbated by the new digital economy. A holistic approach that combines investment in ICT infrastructure and human capital with trade policy measures and measures to improve the business environment access to finance and logistics and promote innovation and R&D is necessary. Improving the availability of data would also help to better understand and integrate SMEs in GVCs.
Acknowledgments
The Global Value Chains Development Report is a joint publication of the World Trade Organization (WTO) the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE–JETRO) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the Research Center of Global Value Chains (RCGVC-UIBE) the World Bank Group and the China Development Research Foundation based on joint research efforts to better understand the ongoing development and evolution of global value chains and their implications for economic development.
Should high domestic value added in exports be an objective of policy?
Global value chains make it easier for developing countries to move away from export reliance on unprocessed primary products to become exporters of manufactures and services. Global value chains (GVCs) allow countries to specialize in a particular activity and join a global production network. As a developing country moves from export of primary products to export of manufactures and services via GVCs the ratio of domestic value added to gross export value tends to fall. Many developing country policy-makers worry about this trend and aspire to increase their value added contribution to exports. There are a number of reasons why this objective is not good policy. It may seem like simple math that a higher domestic value added share means more total value added exported and hence more GDP. But that simple idea ignores the reality that imported goods and services are a key support to a country’s competitiveness. The chapter documents this via the history of the successful East Asian industrializers as well as more recent evidence from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies. If a country artificially replaces key inputs with inferior domestic versions the end result is likely to be fewer gross exports and less not more total value added exports.