Since the mid-1980s a substantial body of research has taken shape on trade in services. Much of this is inspired by the WTO or regional trade agreements, especially the EU. However, an increasing number of papers focus on the impacts of unilateral services sector liberalization. The literature...

This study aims to investigate the normative and economic implications of multilateral market openings and regulatory harmonisation of the global services sectors beyond the bilateral and WTO/GATS frameworks. The mobile communications industry serves as the initial benchmark analysis in order to...

This paper seeks to explore the transboundary movement of labor, in connection with services provision and the World Trade Organization's (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This paper seeks to explore how the further liberalization of trade in services, specifically the...

The objective of the paper is to answer an often-asked question: if tariff rates are reduced, what will happen to wage inequality? We consider two types of wage inequality: between occupations (skills premium) and between industries. We use two large databases of wage inequality that have become...

This paper presents new data on the content of preferential trade agreements. The data contain detailed information on the 18 policy areas most frequently covered in preferential trade agreements, focusing on the stated objectives, substantive commitments, and other aspects such as transparency,...

In 2016, the Government of India proposed negotiations on an agreement to facilitate trade in services to complement the 2013 World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement in goods. The proposal did not find much support, but plurilateral talks launched in 2017 on various policy areas...

The paper discusses the experience to date with the implementation and application of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), some ten years after its entry into force. One striking observation is the smooth functioning of the Agreement, which has created far less tensions and...

Services have long been perceived as playing a secondary role in world trade. In particular, the role of services trade policies and multilateral services commitments often tends to be downplayed. However, in value added terms, services account for about 50% of world trade and are significant in...