The existing economics literature on international trade agreements focuses on tariff agreements covering trade in goods, and offers an explanation for core features of the GATT. Tariffs play almost no role in services markets, however, and the existing models cannot account for the dramatically different approach to trade liberalization in agreements such as the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). We develop a model through which key features of GATS, including its emphasis on "deep integration" – sector-by-sector negotiations on behind the border policy instruments – can be understood. And we use this model to suggest that there may also be a middle ground for services trade liberalization between the GATS deep-integration approach and the traditional border-policy focused "shallow integration" approach of GATT.

中文翻译：

---

国际服务贸易协定的经济结构

现有的关于国际贸易协定的经济学文献侧重于涵盖货物贸易的关税协定，并为 GATT 的核心特征提供了解释。然而，关税在服务市场中几乎没有任何作用，现有模型无法解释在诸如 WTO 服务贸易总协定 (GATS) 等协议中采取的截然不同的贸易自由化方法。我们开发了一个模型，通过该模型可以理解 GATS 的主要特征，包括其对“深度整合”的强调——在边境政策工具背后的逐个部门谈判——可以被理解。我们使用这个模型表明，在服务贸易自由化方面，GATS 深度整合方式与 GATT 传统的以边境政策为重点的“浅层整合”方式之间也可能存在中间地带。