Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services Evidence from a New Database

Surprisingly little is known about policies that affect international trade in services. Previous analyses have focused on policy commitments made by countries in international agreements but these commitments do not in many cases reflect actual policy. This paper describes a new initiative to colle...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Borchert, Ingo
Other Authors: Mattoo, Aaditya, Gootiiz, Batshur
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C The World Bank 2012
Online Access:
Collection: World Bank E-Library Archive - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
LEADER 02093nmm a2200241 u 4500
001 EB002100518
003 EBX01000000000000001240608
005 00000000000000.0
007 cr|||||||||||||||||||||
008 221013 ||| eng
100 1 |a Borchert, Ingo 
245 0 0 |a Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services  |h Elektronische Ressource  |b Evidence from a New Database  |c Ingo Borchert 
260 |a Washington, D.C  |b The World Bank  |c 2012 
300 |a 57 p 
700 1 |a Mattoo, Aaditya 
700 1 |a Gootiiz, Batshur 
700 1 |a Borchert, Ingo 
041 0 7 |a eng  |2 ISO 639-2 
989 |b WOBA  |a World Bank E-Library Archive 
028 5 0 |a 10.1596/1813-9450-6109 
856 4 0 |u http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/book/10.1596/1813-9450-6109  |x Verlag  |3 Volltext 
082 0 |a 330 
520 |a Surprisingly little is known about policies that affect international trade in services. Previous analyses have focused on policy commitments made by countries in international agreements but these commitments do not in many cases reflect actual policy. This paper describes a new initiative to collect comparable information on services trade policies for 103 countries, across a range of service sectors and the relevant modes of service delivery. The resultant database reveals interesting patterns in policy. Across regions, some of the fastest growing countries in Asia and the oil-rich Gulf states have the most restrictive policies in services, whereas some of the poorest countries are remarkably open. Across sectors, professional and transportation services are among the most protected in both industrial and developing countries, while retail, telecommunications and even finance tend to be more open. An illustrative set of results suggests that trade policies matter for investment flows and access to services. In particular, restrictions on foreign acquisitions, discrimination in licensing, restrictions on the repatriation of earnings and lack of legal recourse all have a significant and sizable negative effect, reducing the expected value of sectoral foreign investment by