Endowments, power, and democracy : political economy of multilateral commitments on trade in services

This paper draws from different approaches within the field of international political economy to try to explain why governments undertook different levels of market access commitments under the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The argument, which is supported by empirical analysis, suggests that democracy, relative power, relative endowments, and the WTO accessions process have a significant impact on multilateral commitments on trade in services. -- Trade in services ; GATS ; democracy ; relative power ; endowments ; WTO accessions ; determinants of cooperation ; determinants of international commitments ; international negotiations