Services Policies in Transition Economies : On the EU and WTO as Commitment Mechanisms

The authors analyze the extent to which the EU-15 and 16 transition economies used the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to commit to service sector policy reforms. They compare GATS commitments with the evolution of actual policy stances over time. While there is substantial variance across transition economies on both actual policies and GATS commitments, the authors find an inverse relationship between the depth of GATS commitments and the "quality" of actual services policies as assessed by the private sector. In part this can be explained by the fact that the prospect of EU accession makes GATS less relevant as a commitment device for a subset of transition economies. But for many of the non-EU accession candidates, the WTO seems to be a weak commitment device. One explanation is that the small size of the markets concerned generates weak external enforcement incentives. The authors' findings suggest greater collective investment by WTO members in monitoring and the need for transparency to increase the benefits of WTO membership to small countries.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Eschenbach, Felix, Hoekman, Bernard
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2006-06
Subjects:	ACCESSION, ACCESSION CANDIDATES, ACCESSION COUNTRIES, ACCESSION PROCESS, AGREEMENT ON TRADE, AVERAGE TARIFF, CENTRAL ASIAN, COMMERCIAL PRESENCE, COMMON MARKET, COMPETITIVENESS OF FIRMS, CONSUMPTION ABROAD, CONTRACTING PARTIES, CONVERGENCE, CROSS BORDER TRADE, CROSS-BORDER TRADE, CULTURAL SERVICES, DISPUTE SETTLEMENT, DISPUTE SETTLEMENT MECHANISMS, DOMESTIC ENTERPRISES, DOMESTIC REFORM, DOMESTIC REFORMS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS, EUROPEAN UNION, EXTERNAL TARIFF, EXTERNAL TRADE, EXTERNAL TRADE POLICY, FINANCIAL SERVICES, FOREIGN EXPORTERS, FOREIGN MARKETS, FOREIGN SUPPLIERS, FORMAL DISPUTE SETTLEMENT, FULL LIBERALIZATION, GATS, GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES, GEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITY, HEALTH SERVICES, IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMITMENTS, INCREASING SPECIALIZATION, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, INVESTMENT POLICIES, INVESTMENT POLICY, LOCAL MARKET, MARKET ACCESS, MARKET ACCESS COMMITMENTS, MARKET SIZE, MEMBER STATE, MEMBER STATES, MODES OF SUPPLY, MOVEMENT OF NATURAL PERSONS, MULTILATERAL DISCIPLINES, MULTILATERAL SURVEILLANCE, MULTILATERAL TRADE, MULTILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTS, NATIONAL TREATMENT, OPENNESS, POLICY REFORM, POLICY REFORMS, POLICY RESEARCH, PRIVATE SECTOR, RECENT ACCESSION, RECIPROCAL BASIS, RECIPROCITY, REGIONAL INTEGRATION, REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, ROUND NEGOTIATIONS, SERVICE SECTOR, SERVICE SECTORS, SERVICES LIBERALIZATION, SERVICES MARKETS, SERVICES SECTOR, SERVICES TRADE, TARIFF BINDINGS, TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, TERMS OF TRADE, TRADE AGREEMENTS, TRADE IN SERVICES, TRADE NEGOTIATIONS, TRADE POLICY, TRADE POLICY REVIEW, TRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISM, TRADE RESTRICTIONS, TRADING PARTNERS, TRANSITION COUNTRIES, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, TRANSITION PERIOD, TRANSPARENCY, UNSKILLED LABOR, WTO, WTO ACCESSION, WTO COMMITMENTS, WTO MEMBERS, WTO MEMBERSHIP,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/06/6875028/services-policies-transition-economies-european-union-world-trade-organization-commitment-mechanisms http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8400
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