Impediments to Trade in Services

The economic impact of barriers to world trade and investment in services has been thought impossible to measure. As a consequence, significant global policy initiatives such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services have been concluded in an information void. This book challenges the view that impediments to services trade cannot be quantified, detailing how these barriers can be measured and their significance estimated. It contains studies measuring impediments to trade and investment in a variety of sectors, including telecommunications, finance, shipping, education and air transport. The authors explain how the measures were calculated and show how the results could be used in sophisticated economic models. The final part of the book looks at current issues in services negotiations in the World Trade Organization and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The measurements and methods detailed in this work have clear relevance to policymaking on services liberalization and could be used by both international and regional organizations in services negotiations.

'...this book sheds fresh light on the costs imposed by barriers to trade in a range of service sectors...provides a useful platform on which other research can build.' Duncan McKenzie, International Financial Services, London (IFSL) in The Business Economist [Volume 33 No 1 2002]