2017年-世界发展银行全球_Horizontal_Depth___A_New_Database_on_the_Content_of_Preferential_Trade_Agreements_36页_1mb

Summary of "Horizontal Depth: A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements"

Core Content

This paper introduces a new database that provides a detailed assessment of the content of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), focusing on their horizontal depth – the extent to which they cover various policy areas and include legally enforceable provisions. The database includes 279 PTAs signed by 189 countries between 1958 and 2015, reflecting all PTAs in force and notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as of 2015.

Key Findings

• Increased Depth Over Time: PTAs have become more comprehensive and deeper over the years. The number of policy areas covered has expanded, with many agreements now including provisions on non-WTO areas such as competition policy, investment, movement of capital, and intellectual property rights (IPRs).
• WTO+ and WTO-X Provisions: The database categorizes provisions into two groups:
  • WTO+ (14 areas): These are areas already covered by the WTO, such as tariffs, SPS measures, and TBT.
  • WTO-X (38 areas): These are areas not yet regulated by the WTO, including competition policy, investment, and IPRs.
• Legal Enforceability: A provision is considered legally enforceable if it contains clear legal language and is not excluded from dispute settlement procedures. The database distinguishes between enforceable and non-enforceable provisions based on this criterion.
• Provision Counts: The average number of provisions in PTAs has increased significantly:
  • Total depth: rose from around 8 in the 1990s to more than 17 in the last 5 years.
  • Core depth: increased from about 7 in the 1990s to nearly 14 between 2010 and 2015.
  • PCA depth: tripled from approximately 1 in the 1990s to 2.8 in the 2010–2015 period.

Regional and Income-Level Analysis

• Europe has the highest number of PTAs and they are also the deepest, with an average total depth of 25.
• EFTA, Japan, and the Republic of Korea also sign relatively deep PTAs, with average depths of 23, 21, and 20 respectively.
• North-South PTAs include almost as many provisions as North-North PTAs, with average depths of 20 and 22 respectively.
• South-South PTAs tend to be shallower, with an average total depth of 13, mainly focusing on traditional trade policy issues under the WTO+ category.

Economic Implications

• The depth of PTAs is correlated with trade intensity, including goods trade and global value chain (GVC) trade.
• The database supports the use of standard economic tools to analyze the impact of PTAs on trade and other economic variables.
• It has been used in studies such as Mattoo, Mulabdic and Ruta (2016) and Osnago, Rocha and Ruta (2016) to assess the effects of deep PTAs on trade flows and GVC integration.

Methodology and Legal Considerations

• The database was built using the methodology developed by Horn, Mavroidis and Sapir (2010), which classifies provisions into WTO+ and WTO-X categories.
• The legal enforceability of provisions is assessed based on the clarity of language and the availability of dispute settlement mechanisms.
• Some PTAs include alternative dispute resolution mechanisms that may not be as strong as full dispute settlement procedures but are still considered in the analysis.

Limitations and Future Work

• The categorization of certain policy areas, such as e-commerce and services, lacks the necessary granularity to capture new developments.
• The drafting style of PTAs varies over time, and this must be considered in the historical context of enforceability.
• The paper highlights the need for further data mining and analysis to better understand the evolving content and impact of PTAs.

Conclusion

The new database provides a comprehensive and detailed view of the content and depth of PTAs, offering valuable insights into the evolution of trade agreements and their implications for global trade governance. It is a critical tool for researchers and policymakers seeking to understand how PTAs are shaping the future of international trade.