The role of standards for trade in services. First insights

In the meanwhile, the cross-border trade of Services has attracted the attention of industry, policymakers and academia. Whereas the trade of goods has been well analysed both from the theoretical and empirical perspective, investigations of trade in Services are only beginning. In particular, the complex influence of Standards äs inhibitors, but also äs obstacles for trade in Services has not yet been analysed. First, we focus on some theoretical considerations of the role of Standards for trade in Services derived from reflections on physical goods. Second, we present some evidence of the use of different types of Service Standards by a sample of Euro-pean Service companies. This allows us to derive first insights äs to which Standards are espe-cially important for trade in Services. The paper closes with an agenda of future research.