دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی خدمات سیاست های تجاری و توسعه پایدار - الزویر 2018

abstract

The realization of many of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) depends on bolstering the performance of services sectors and improving access to specific services in developing countries. We show that when the level of economic development or the quality of institutions is sufficiently high, openness to services trade and investment is positively related to access to financial, ICT and transport services – three activities that are inputs into several SDGs. An implication is that facilitating trade and investment in services may help realize SDGs that depend on the performance of services sectors. In the absence of comparable cross-country panel data on services trade policies, country-specific analyses are needed to better understand the specific channels through which services trade policies impact on SDGs.

Conclusion

The realization of many of the SDGs depends in part on bolstering the performance of services sectors and improving access to specific services in developing countries. In principle, services trade policy should affect the availability and quality of services, and thus can be a relevant instrument for efforts to attain the SDGs. Our empirical analysis reveals a positive association between services trade and investment policies and indicators of access to services that matter for the realization of a number of SDGs, suggesting that reducing levels of services trade and investment restrictiveness could help enhance access to services sectors that are important to the SDGs. Many other policies will in practice be more important in affecting the performance of services, most obviously sector-specific policies and regulatory regimes. These appropriately are the focus of SDG-related analysis and projects around the developing world. When it comes to trade as a means of implementation for the SDGs, the focus of international attention is on measures to facilitate trade in goods and to enhance productive capacity in developing countries. This is certainly important, but it risks neglecting the potential complementary role that services trade and investment can play. Our goal in this paper has been to undertake an initial, exploratory analysis to assess whether services trade policies can make a contribution. The results, while only indicative, suggest that analysis of the potential role of services trade policies should be part of countrylevel diagnostics and prioritization efforts. Most discussion on the scope to leverage the potential of trade to support achievement of the SDGs is restricted to merchandise trade. This is exemplified in the Agenda 2030 document that incorporates the SDGs, which highlights measures such as duty-free, quota-free access for exports of goods from LDCs (United Nations, 2015). A policy implication of our empirical results is that the focus on trade policies should not be limited to merchandise trade but also span services trade and investment regimes.