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Landlocked or policy locked ? how services trade protection deepens economic isolation

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  • Borchert, Ingo
  • Gootiiz, Batshur
  • Grover, Arti
  • Mattoo, Aaditya

Abstract

A new cross-country database on services policy reveals a perverse pattern: many landlocked countries restrict trade in the very services that connect them with the rest of the world. On average, telecommunications and air-transport policies are significantly more restrictive in landlocked countries than elsewhere. The phenomenon is most starkly visible in Sub-Saharan Africa and is associated with lower levels of political accountability. This paper finds evidence that these policies lead to more concentrated market structures and more limited access to services than these countries would otherwise have, even after taking into account the influence of geography and incomes, and the possibility that policy is endogenous. Even moderate liberalization in these sectors could lead to an increase of cellular subscriptions by 7 percentage points and a 20-percent increase in the number of flights. Policies in other countries, industrial and developing alike, also limit competition in international transport services. Hence,"trade-facilitating"investments under various"aid-for-trade"initiatives are likely to earn a low return unless they are accompanied by meaningful reform in these services sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Borchert, Ingo & Gootiiz, Batshur & Grover, Arti & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2012. "Landlocked or policy locked ? how services trade protection deepens economic isolation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5942, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5942
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Being landlocked and making it worse
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2012-02-07 21:12:00

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    4. Olivier Cadot & Ana Fernandes & Julien Gourdon & Aaditya Mattoo & Jaime Melo, 2014. "Evaluating Aid for Trade: A Survey of Recent Studies," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 516-529, April.
    5. Alessandro Barattieri & Ingo Borchert & Aaditya Mattoo, 2016. "Cross‐border mergers and acquisitions in services: The role of policy and industrial structure," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(4), pages 1470-1501, November.
    6. Arvind Subramanian & Martin Kessler, 2013. "The Hyperglobalization of Trade and Its Future," Working Paper Series WP13-6, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    7. Françoise Okah Efogo, 2020. "Does trade in services improve African participation in global value chains?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(4), pages 758-772, December.
    8. Lahiri, Bidisha & Masjidi, Feroz K., 2012. "Landlocked Countries: A Way to Integrate with Coastal Economies," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 27, pages 505-519.
    9. Ezzat, Riham Ahmed & Aboushady, Nora, 2018. "Do restrictive regulatory policies matter for telecom performance? Evidence from MENA countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 60-72.
    10. Jean-François Arvis & Yann Duval & Ben Shepherd & Chorthip Utoktham, 2012. "Trade Costs in the Developing World:1995 – 2010," Working Papers 12112, Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), an initiative of UNESCAP and IDRC, Canada..
    11. Delgadillo Chavarria, Carlos Bruno, 2019. "El Efecto de la Mediterraneidad sobre el Flujo Comercial Internacional: Evidencia Empírica Internacional y para América del Sur (1990-2016) [The Effect of Landlocked Country Status on International," MPRA Paper 96093, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Sep 2019.
    12. Bernard Hoekman, 2014. "The Bali Trade Facilitation Agreement and Rulemaking in the WTO: Milestone, Mistake or Mirage?," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/102, European University Institute.
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