Regional Service Trade Agreements and Manufacturing Global Value Chains: Evidence from 60 Economies

This study uses the data of 60 countries (regions) from 2000 to 2018 to test the impact of regional service trade agreements on the participation of a country (region) in the global value chain of manufacturing. (1) Overall, signing regional service trade agreements can promote the forward participation of a country’s (regional) value chain, and enhance the division of labour status of a country’s (regional) manufacturing GVCs. (2) After a series of robustness tests, the results remain consistent with the benchmark results. The impact of signing regional service trade agreements on the participation of a country’s (regional) manufacturing GVCs division of labour varies due to the heterogeneity of the country (region), income level and multilateral resistance. (3) The signing of regional service trade agreements between countries (regions) enhances the participation of a country (region) in the GVCs division of manufacturing industry. (4) Trade network status and dynamic evolution process.