IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/worlde/v40y2017i3p574-597.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regionalism in Services: A Study of ASEAN

Author

Listed:
  • Batshur Gootiiz
  • Aaditya Mattoo

Abstract

Can regionalism do what multilateralism has so far failed to do?promote greater openness of services markets? Although previous research has pointed to the wider and deeper legal commitments under regional agreements as proof that it can, no previous study has assessed the impact of such agreements on applied policies. This paper focuses on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where regional integration of services markets has been linked to thriving regional supply chains. Drawing on surveys conducted in 2008 and 2012 of applied policies in the key services sectors of ASEAN countries, the paper assesses the impact of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and the ambitious ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint, which envisaged integrated services markets by 2015. The analysis finds that over this period, ASEAN did not integrate faster internally than vis-à-vis the rest of the world: policies applied to trade with other ASEAN countries were virtually the same as those applied to trade with rest of the world. Moreover, the recent commitments scheduled under AFAS did not produce significant liberalization and, in a few instances, services trade policy actually became more restrictive. The two exceptions are in areas that are not on the multilateral negotiating agenda: steps have been taken toward creating regional open skies in air transport, and a few mutual recognition agreements have been negotiated in professional services. These findings suggest that regional negotiations add the most value when they are focused on areas that are not being addressed multilaterally.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Batshur Gootiiz & Aaditya Mattoo, 2017. "Regionalism in Services: A Study of ASEAN," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 574-597, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:40:y:2017:i:3:p:574-597
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.12328
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.12328
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/twec.12328?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mattoo, Aaditya & Fink, Carsten, 2004. "Regional Agreements and Trade in Services: Policy Issues," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 19, pages 742-779.
    2. Martin,Will & Winters,L. Alan (ed.), 1996. "The Uruguay Round and the Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521586016.
    3. Richard Baldwin, 2011. "Trade And Industrialisation After Globalisation's 2nd Unbundling: How Building And Joining A Supply Chain Are Different And Why It Matters," NBER Working Papers 17716, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Borchert, Ingo & Gootiiz, Batshur & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2012. "Guide to the services trade restrictions database," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6108, The World Bank.
    5. Carsten Fink & Martín Molinuevo, 2008. "East Asian Free Trade Agreements in Services: Key Architectural Elements," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 263-311, June.
    6. Aldaba, Rafaelita M., 2013. "ASEAN Economic Community 2015: Labor Mobility and Mutual Recognition Arrangements on Professional Services," Discussion Papers DP 2013-04, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sineenat Sermcheep, 2019. "Services Export and Economic Growth in ASEAN Countries," Journal of Asian Economic Integration, , vol. 1(2), pages 163-182, September.
    2. Leonardo Baccini & Iain Osgood & Stephen Weymouth, 2019. "The service economy: U.S. trade coalitions in an era of deindustrialization," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 261-296, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ingo Borchert & Batshur Gootiiz & Aaditya Mattoo, 2014. "Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services: Evidence from a New Database," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 162-188.
    2. World Bank, 2007. "East Asian FTAs in Services," World Bank Publications - Reports 19240, The World Bank Group.
    3. Anderson, Kym & Martin, Will & van der Mensbrugghe, Dominique, 2013. "Estimating Effects of Price-Distorting Policies Using Alternative Distortions Databases," Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, in: Peter B. Dixon & Dale Jorgenson (ed.), Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 877-931, Elsevier.
    4. Alexander Daniltsev & Olga Biryukova, 2015. "Beyond the GATS: Implicit Engines in Services RTAs," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 62(3), pages 321-337, June.
    5. Tanu M. Goyal, 2021. "Technology Uncertainty and Incompleteness in Trade Agreements: Reflections from the Design of India’s Bilateral Agreements Covering Services," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 56(3), pages 322-340, August.
    6. Claes G. Alvstam & Erja Kettunen & Patrik Ström, 2017. "The service sector in the free-trade agreement between the EU and Singapore: closing the gap between policy and business realities," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 75-105, March.
    7. Sébastien Jean & David Laborde & Will Martin, 2008. "Choosing Sensitive Agricultural Products in Trade Negotiations," Working Papers 2008-18, CEPII research center.
    8. Joseph Francois & Bernard Hoekman, 2010. "Services Trade and Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 642-692, September.
    9. Valentine Fays & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2023. "Wage differences according to workers' origin: The role of working more upstream in GVCs," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 37(2), pages 319-342, June.
    10. Siebert, Horst, 2005. "TAFTA - a dead horse or an attractive open club?," Kiel Working Papers 1240, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    11. Kym Anderson, 2005. "On the Virtues of Multilateral Trade Negotiations," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(255), pages 414-438, December.
    12. Peter J. Rimmer, 2014. "Asian-Pacific Rim Logistics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12949.
    13. Fredy Cepeda-Lopez & Fredy Gamboa-Estrada & Carlos Leon-Rincón & Hernán Rincon-Castro, 2022. "Colombian Liberalization and Integration into World Trade Markets: Much Ado about Nothing," Revista de Economía del Rosario, Universidad del Rosario, vol. 25(2), pages 1-44, December.
    14. Götz, Christian & Heckelei, Thomas & Rudloff, Bettina, 2010. "What makes countries initiate WTO disputes on food-related issues?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 154-162, April.
    15. Lucian Cernat & Sam Laird & Alessandro Turrini, 2003. "How Important are Market Access Issues for Developing Countries in the Doha Agenda?," International Trade 0302004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. J. Mutti & R. Sampson & B. Yeung, 2000. "The effects of the Uruguay round: empirical evidence from U.S. industry," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(1), pages 59-69, January.
    17. Hans Binswanger & Ernst Lutz, 2003. "Agricultural trade barriers, trade negotiations and the interests of developing countries," Chapters, in: John Toye (ed.), Trade and Development, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Benoît Mahy & François Rycx & Guillaume Vermeylen & Mélanie Volral, 2022. "Productivity and wage effects of firm‐level upstreamness: Evidence from Belgian linked panel data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(7), pages 2222-2250, July.
    19. Walmsley, Terrie L. & Hertel, Thomas W. & Ianchovichina, Elena, 2001. "Assessing the Impact of China’s WTO Accession on Foreign Ownership," Conference papers 330941, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    20. Emanuela Todeva & Ruslan Rakhmatullin, 2016. "Industry Global Value Chains, Connectivity and Regional Smart Specialisation in Europe. An Overview of Theoretical Approaches and Mapping Methodologies," JRC Research Reports JRC102801, Joint Research Centre.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:40:y:2017:i:3:p:574-597. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0378-5920 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.