Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI): Measuring services liberalisation and commitments in the GATS and RTAs

Sebastian Benz and Inese Rozensteine

No 250, OECD Trade Policy Papers from OECD Publishing

Abstract: The number of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have increased markedly over the last decade, with many addressing market openness and rule-making for services trade. Recent RTAs are breaking down existing barriers: on average, removing between 10% and 40% of services restrictions present in the multilateral regime, and going significantly further in binding applied services regimes. When measured against the benchmark of commitments in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), binding commitments in RTAs eliminate between 40% and 70% of the “water” in the GATS – although low levels of “water” are not necessarily synonymous with high levels of openness. Ultimately, national and collective services reforms and liberalisation will best drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Keywords: Regional Trade Agreements; Services trade liberalisation; Services trade policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 F15 F53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-06-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int
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