International Studies Compendium Project

Extract

Comment on this article   Services make up the bulk of the global economy. However, attention to international exchange in services and efforts to promote liberalization of those exchanges have lagged far behind trade in goods. While global service sector contestation and market integration, particularly through foreign investment, have grown and industries like financial services, communication, and transport are often thought of as highly globalized sectors, compared to trade in goods they remain relatively protected and closed in many states. Governments maintain foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions on the ownership and operation of financial services and media companies, and most countries continue to insist on strict limitations on the rights of workers to trade their services across borders. While the revolution in communications and transportation technology in recent decades has intensified interest in services, services are still highly regulated and the removal of traditional trade barriers (such as tariffs on merchandise trade) is inadequate to promote liberalization ( Crystal 2003 :555). This essay explores how cross-border flows of services have been conceptualized as “trade” and documents the various global and regional initiatives undertaken to promote the removal of service trade barriers, including: the World Trade Organization's (WTO) General Agreement ... log in or subscribe to read full text