World trade and production are increasingly structured around “global value chains” (GVCs). The last few years have witnessed a growing number of case studies describing at the product level how production is internationally fragmented, but there is little evidence at the aggregate level on...

This study provides data on the costs and challenges of implementing trade facilitation measures currently under negotiation in the WTO. It updates an earlier study undertaken in 2005, presenting data and insights from nine additional developing countries. The study confirms earlier findings...

Lack of regulatory transparency is a major and recurrent obstacle for businesses seeking to trade internationally. This study finds that transparency mechanisms applied at different stages of the design, finalisation and implementation of domestic regulation have allowed countries to reduce...

The pattern of trade analysed from a factor content perspective reflects the relative factor endowments of the countries examined. Although some large economies, such as the United States, seem to exhibit counter-intuitive behaviour, this is reversed when intermediate trade is taken into...

Globalisation in the pharmaceuticals sector is entering a new phase. Many new drugs are marketed globally, and these revenues encourage further investment in research and development (R&D). The industry is undergoing substantial transition, with increased competition and downward pressure on...

Information and communications technology (ICT) has been seen as a major contributor to productivity growth and as a key tool for innovation. Trade liberalisation can play a role in encouraging ICT adoption by fostering competition and by reducing ICT prices. While the trade in ICT goods has...

This paper builds on recent generalisations of theory and empirics of comparative advantage and establishes the relative importance of different sources of comparative advantage in explaining trade, with particular focus on policy and institutional factors. The broad policy and institutional...

This study analyses linkages between trade and innovation in the chemicals sector, building on past work at the OECD on trade and innovation. The chemicals sector has a long history of innovation and is a large trading item. It covers very diverse sub-sectors. This paper analyses and compares...

This report presents the findings of the OECD indicators for assessing the economic and trade impact of specific trade facilitation measures in OECD countries. Twelve trade facilitation indicators (TFIs) have been constructed, corresponding to the main policy areas under negotiation at the WTO,...

This paper presents the scoring and weighting methodology for calculation of the services trade restrictiveness indices (STRIs) for 18 sectors. The STRIs are composite indices taking values between zero and one, zero representing an open market and one a market completely closed to foreign...