Market Access for Small Versus Large Service Enterprises: The Preferential and Multilateral Trade Liberalization Tracks Compared

Abstract

Political economy theories of international trade predict the convergence of trade policy preferences between small and large exporting enterprises within a sector. However, this convergence does not generally occur in service trade, which restricts the way a service provider is allowed to supply a service across borders. By comparing the latest General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) offers with the new preferential services trade agreements of the 2000s, this paper explores the extent each liberalization track provides market access in modes of supply preferred by either small or large enterprises. It finds that the preferential track is more likely to level the playing field between the two.