Methodological issues arising from the estimation of tariff equivalents of barriers to services trade are very relevant for policy. These equivalents are used extensively to compute welfare gains and resource reallocations associated with partial liberalization of the sector; any measurement errors will strongly affect the estimated gains. Using the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database, we rely on socalled quantity based methods to derive tariff equivalents from a gravity equation estimated at sectoral level for 9 services sectors and 65 countries. We also estimate trade equations for services using cross section data, and improve on the methodology of Park (2002). We investigate whether relying on cross section rather than panel data leads to differences in the estimated equivalents. Finally, we compare the estimations based on reconstructed and actual data. We conclude that although use of partially reconstructed data (such as GTAP) affects the results, the equivalents obtained are good representations of the magnitude of protection for services in the various countries analyzed, although with larger deviations for developing economies. JEL Classification: F13.

Trade in services has been on a substantial positive trend since the last decades, and the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in force has increased regularly overtime. However, negotiations on services remain hesitant even at the bilateral level. Classifying an RTA according to its degree of liberalisation in services allows accounting for ‘depth’ and heterogeneity issues amongst RTAs. I estimate a gravity equation using panel data covering the period 1999–2007, including bilateral and country‐and‐time fixed effects. The main results are: (i) amongst RTAs, only the trade agreements covering services have a significant effect on trade in services; and (ii) the deeper, in terms of sectors and of content, the agreement is, the more intratrade the signatory countries have.

Since Baier and Bergstrand (2004) there has been a focus on empirically testing the economic determinants of signing a free trade agreement (FTA). However, FTAs do not imply an agreement on services; a separate economic integration (EIA) is needed. As trade in services is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy, it is important to pay special attention to these agreements. We use the methodology of Baier and Bergstrand (2004) to investigate di¤erences in the determinants of signing an agreement on goods trade and services trade. In addition to the standard economic variables, we include variables for skilled/unskilled labor, and political stability. We …nd in general, qualitative similarities (though di¤erent magnitudes) and some robust speci…c di¤erences.JEL classi…cation: F14, F15.

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