Quantifying the Impact of Technical Barriers to Trade : A Framework for Analysis

There has been increasing use of technical regulations as instruments of commercial policy in the context of multilateral, regional, and global trade. These nontariff barriers are of special concern to developing countries, which may bear additiona...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Maskus, Keith E., Wilson, John S., Otsuki, Tsunehiro
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURE ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION BARRIERS BARRIERS TO IMPORTS BILATERAL AGREEMENTS BILATERAL TRADE BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTS COLLECTIVE ACTION COMMERCIAL POLICY COMMON MARKET CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT CONSUMER COSTS CONSUMER PROTECTION CONSUMERS COUNTRY EXPORTERS CUSTOMS CUSTOMS DUTIES CUSTOMS OFFICERS DAMAGES DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DISPUTE SETTLEMENT DOMESTIC FIRMS DOMESTIC MARKET DOMESTIC PRODUCERS DOMESTIC REGULATION DOMESTIC REGULATIONS DOMESTIC REGULATORY POLICIES DOMESTIC STANDARDS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC DISTORTIONS ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ECONOMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC OBJECTIVES ECONOMISTS EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS EXPORT MARKETS EXPORT SUBSIDIES EXPORTERS EXPORTING COUNTRY EXPORTS FINAL GOODS FISHERIES FOREIGN COMPETITORS FOREIGN INVESTMENT FOREIGN PRODUCERS FOREIGN SOURCES FOREIGN STANDARDS FOREIGN SUPPLIERS FORESTRY FREE TRADE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT FREE TRADE IN GOODS GLOBAL TRADE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS HARMONIZATION IMPORT BANS IMPORT DUTIES IMPORT QUOTAS IMPORT RESTRICTIONS IMPORTS INCOME INCOME COUNTRIES INTERMEDIATE INPUTS INTERNAL MARKET INTERNATIONAL NORMS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS INTERNATIONAL TRADE INVESTMENT LIBERALIZATION LABOR STANDARDS LIBERALIZATION EFFORTS MARKET ACCESS MARKET COMPETITION MARKET ENTRY MARKET FAILURES MARKET POWER MONOPOLIES MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS MULTILATERAL TRADE MUTUAL RECOGNITION MUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENTS NATIONAL STANDARDS NATIONAL TREATMENT NON-TARIFF BARRIERS NONTARIFF BARRIER OPEN TRADE POLICY DECISIONS PRIVATE RESOURCES PRODUCERS PRODUCT STANDARDS PRODUCTION COSTS PROTECTION MEASURES PROTECTIVE BARRIERS PUBLIC HEALTH QUOTAS RECOGNITION AGREEMENTS RECYCLING REGIONAL ARRANGEMENTS REGIONAL GROUPING REGIONAL TRADE REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS REGIONAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS REGIONAL TRADING ARRANGEMENTS REGULATORY AREAS REGULATORY BARRIERS REGULATORY INTERVENTION REGULATORY SYSTEMS RESEARCH AGENDA RULES OF ORIGIN SAFETY REGULATIONS SERVICE SECTOR TARIFF AREAS TARIFF BARRIERS TARIFF SCHEDULE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TECHNICAL BARRIERS TECHNICAL REGULATIONS TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRADE TRADE AGREEMENT TRADE BARRIERS TRADE COSTS TRADE DISPUTES TRADE EFFECT TRADE EFFECTS TRADE FACILITATION TRADE IMPACT TRADE LAW TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE PARTNERS TRADE PATTERNS TRADE POLICY TRADE PROTECTION TRADE RULES TRADEOFFS TRANSPARENCY URUGUAY ROUND WORLD TRADE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WORLD TRADING SYSTEM WTO
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/12/828378/quantifying-impact-technical-barriers-trade-framework-analysis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19754

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Summary:	There has been increasing use of technical regulations as instruments of commercial policy in the context of multilateral, regional, and global trade. These nontariff barriers are of special concern to developing countries, which may bear additional costs in meeting mandatory standards. Many industrial and developing countries express frustration with regulations that vary across their export markets, require duplicative conformity procedures, and are continually revised to exclude imports. The authors provide a comprehensive overview of the policy debate and methodological issues surrounding product standards and technical barriers to trade. They begin with a review of the policy context driving demand for empirical analysis of standards in trade, then provide an analytical overview of the role of standards and their relationship to trade. They then review methodological approaches that have been used to analyze standards and their impact on trade. Their main interest lies in advancing techniques that are practical and may be fruitfully extended to the empirical analysis of regulations and trade. They discuss concrete steps that could be taken to move forward a practical, policy-relevant program of empirical research. Such steps would include: a) administering firm-level surveys in developing countries; b) devising methods for assessing how much standards restrict trade; and c) establishing econometric approaches that could be applied to survey and microeconomic data, to improve understanding of the role of standards in exports.

Quantifying the Impact of Technical Barriers to Trade : A Framework for Analysis

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