Horizontal Depth: A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements
Horizontal Depth: A New Database on the Content of Preferential Trade Agreements
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横向深度：优惠贸易协定内容的新数据库
DOI：
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发表时间：
2017
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通讯作者：
M. Ruta
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文献类型：
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作者：
Claudia Hofmann;Alberto Osnago;M. Ruta
优惠贸易协定是全球贸易体系的一个重要特征。从优惠安排的理由到其对成员、非成员和更广泛的多边贸易体系的影响，有几个问题处于贸易政策学术和政策辩论的前沿。本文通过两种方式对文献做出贡献。首先，它提出了一个新的数据库，对优惠安排的内容进行详细评估，审查条款的覆盖范围和法律的可接受性。该数据库涵盖了1958年至2015年期间189个国家签署的279项协定，反映了截至2015年生效并向世界贸易组织通报的整套优惠贸易协定。其次，本文在对数据分析的基础上提出了一些关于优惠安排的新颖的程式化事实。关键的见解是，随着时间的推移，优惠贸易协定变得更加深入。越来越多的这类条约涵盖了一系列广泛的政策领域，往往有可在法律上强制执行的规定，既包括世界贸易组织目前任务授权范围内的领域，也包括世界贸易组织目前任务授权范围外的四个主要领域：竞争政策、投资、资本流动和知识产权保护。考虑到优惠贸易协定覆盖面的变化，即其“横向深度”，对于更全面和准确地了解全球贸易体系的走向以及如何改进其治理至关重要。
Preferential trade agreements are an important feature of the global trade system. Several questions, ranging from the rationale for preferential arrangements to their impact on members, non-members and the broader multilateral trade system, are at the forefront of academic and policy debates in trade policy. This paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it presents a new database that offers a detailed assessment of the content of preferential arrangements, examining the coverage and legal enforceability of provisions. The database covers 279 agreements signed by 189 countries between 1958 and 2015, which reflects the entire set of preferential trade agreements in force and notified to the World Trade Organization as of 2015. Second, the paper presents some novel stylized facts on preferential arrangements based on the analysis of the data. The key insight is that preferential trade agreements became deeper over time. A growing number of these treaties cover an extended set of policy areas, frequently with legally enforceable provisions, in areas under the current World Trade Organization mandate and in four leading areas outside the current World Trade Organization mandate: competition policy, investment, movements of capital, and intellectual property rights protection. Accounting for the changing coverage of preferential trade agreements, that is, their “horizontal depth,” is essential to gain a more complete and accurate understanding of where the global trading system is going and how its governance can be improved.