Digital Trade Policy and Digital Services Trade: Different Commitments, Different Effects? Evidence from the OECD INDIGO index

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines whether international digital trade commitments are associated with bilateral trade in digitally deliverable services. Using panel data for 2005-2024, the analysis applies the OECD Index of Digital Trade Integration and Openness (INDIGO) in a structural gravity framework across the six digitally deliverable services sectors defined in the Handbook on Measuring Digital Trade. The results show that digital trade commitments are not uniformly associated with higher services trade. Instead, the clearest positive associations are found for commitments related to enabling e-commerce and wider digital economy issues, particularly in Intellectual property charges, Financial services, Telecommunications, computer and information services, and for Other business services. The findings suggest that digital trade policy should not be treated as a uniform instrument of trade openness, but as a set of targeted commitments whose relevance depends on policy content, institutional channel and sector-specific conditions.