The Welfare Implications of Services Liberalization in a Developing Country

Download or read book The Welfare Implications of Services Liberalization in a Developing Country written by Mr.Nizar Jouini and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We propose an integrated method based on a two-sector small open economy dynamic and stochastic general equilibrium model to estimate non-tariff barriers and quantify the impact of services liberalization. The major component of trade barriers is explicitly modeled through the introduction of entry-sunk costs. Hence, liberalization is treated assuming a government's policy decision aimed at reducing those costs. Then, we estimate the model using Bayesian techniques for Tunisia and the Euro Area. The paper presents a precise quantitative evaluation of services trade barriers as the difference between entry-sunk costs in Tunisia versus the Euro Area. We find significant welfare benefits in addition to aggregate and sectoral growth gains the Tunisian economy could attain following services liberalization. Surprisingly, the goods sector is the one that benefits the most from services liberalization in the short- and long-term horizons.