Trade in Educational Services: Trends and Emerging Issues

Abstract

This paper examines the trends and emerging issues in trade in educational services. It provides rough estimates of the size of the international market in educational services drawing on the limited data available in services trade statistics and data on foreign students in tertiary education in OECD countries. It outlines the current commitments for trade in educational services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It also reviews the implications of the on-going GATS negotiations for further multilateral trade liberalisation in this sector. It points out that OECD countries have been noticeably reluctant to make proposals for further liberalisation of trade in educational services. One reason for this is the concern in many countries about the potential threats posed to cultural values and national traditions by growing trade liberalisation in educational services. Finally, the paper reviews some of the main policy issues arising from trade in educational services. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2002.

GATS and Higher Education: State of Play of the Liberalization Commitments

“…GATS negotiations take place within the Council for Trade in Services of the WTO (Larsen, Martin et al 2002). There are different types of negotiations with different contents and procedures that are being developed in the framework of the Council for Trade in Services (rules, domestic regulation, modalities, etc.).…”

“…Higher education is the education level outstandingly more present in trade flows (Larsen and Vincent-Lancrin 2002). In fact, higher education has become one of the main services exportation industries in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the USA (Larsen, Martin et al 2002). Consequently, some governments and the higher education industry are increasingly interested in the elimination of barriers to education trade.…”

Academic attractiveness of countries; a possible benchmark strategy applied to the Netherlands

“…2, 118-134, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2013.879835 © 2014 Downloaded by [Universiteit Twente] at 00:49 14 October 2014 (OECD 2012, 360; see Figure 1). The size of the market is also expressed in the growing amount of financial resources involved in the global tertiary education market: in 1995 around US$27 billion, in 1999 around US $30 billion, in 2002 more than US $35 billion and in 2004 around US $60 billion (Pillay, Maassen, and Cloete 2003;Larsen, Martin, and Morris 2002; Barrow, Didou-Aupetit, and Mallea 2003, ch. 1;and Naidoo 2009).…”

WTO Provision and Higher Education in Nepal

“…And this will not probably have serious impact on each WTO member's domestic education services. These foreign individuals will help each WTO member train a large number of highlevel professionals, and will play a positive and facilitating role in improving the quality of each WTO member's education services (Larsen, Morris and Martin, 2002). In the future, there will be a substantial increase in the international flow of individuals among the suppliers of education services of around the world.…”

“…On one hand, this will help each WTO member nation's education service institutions employ more talented personnel. On the other hand, the present employees of each WTO member nation's education service institutions will have to face a higher demand on their personal qualities (Larsen, Morris and Martin, 2002). This leads to a situation of extreme fluidity where the state as well as the education policymakers is to remain very much cautious in handling this situation in such a way that assures benefits to developing countries Nepal from this provision.…”