Learning by Not Doing: Subsidy Disciplines in Services Trade

Sauvé, Pierre; Soprana, Marta (April 2015). Learning by Not Doing: Subsidy Disciplines in Services Trade (E15 Task Force on Rethinking International Subsidies Disciplines. Think Piece). Geneva, Switzerland: International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and World Economic Forum

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This paper explores the hitherto futile quest for developing disciplines on the trade- and investment-distorting effects of services subsidies. It sheds light on the multiplicity of factors that have weighed on the conduct of negotiations on subsidy disciplines in a services trade context at both the global and preferential levels, and advances a few thoughts on what the future may hold for the adoption of such disciplines. The analysis suggests that it is rather unlikely that WTO Members will any time soon reach a consensus on the matter of subsidy disciplines for services beyond those that currently (and timidly) obtain in the GATS and in many preferential trade agreements. The main reason behind such a conclusion stems from a marked rise in the value of preserving policy space in a trading environment characterized by considerably greater global market contestability than two decades ago.

Item Type:

Working Paper

Division/Institute:

02 Faculty of Law > Department of Economic Law > World Trade Institute
10 Strategic Research Centers > World Trade Institute

02 Faculty of Law > Department of Economic Law > NCCR International Trade Regulation

UniBE Contributor:

Sauvé, Pierre

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 340 Law

ISSN:

2313-3805

Series:

E15 Task Force on Rethinking International Subsidies Disciplines. Think Piece

Publisher:

International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and World Economic Forum

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pablo Rahul Das

Date Deposited:

24 Jun 2016 14:36

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:56

Related URLs:

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.83927

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/83927

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