Extensive research has demonstrated the existence of large potential welfare gains from measures to facilitate trade - reduce trade costs - for African countries in particular. However, concerns have been expressed by policymakers regarding the distribution of the benefits and costs of trade...

This paper presents improved approaches to measurement of services barriers by using alternative weighting methods and improved econometric specifications; the data include barriers affecting each mode of services supply and additional sector-specific regulatory variables. We provide an...

We test the hypothesis that product standards harmonised to de facto international standards are less trade restrictive than ones that are not. To do this, we construct a new database of European Union (EU) product standards. We identify standards that are aligned with International Organisation...

The authors test the hypothesis that product standards harmonized to de facto international standards are less trade restrictive than ones that are not. To do this, the authors construct a new database of European Union (EU) product standards. The authors identify standards that are aligned with...