The Impact of Regional Digital Trade Rules on Global Value Chains

Abstract

Based on bilateral trade data from 62 exporting and importing countries (regions) between 2007 and 2021, this study employs the ADB database to measure the global value chain (GVC) participation of exporting countries (regions) and the TAPED database to calculate the depth index of digital trade rules. It explores the mechanisms through which regional digital trade rules influence GVC participation. The findings are as follows: First, digital trade rules in regional trade agreements (RTA) significantly enhance the GVC participation of exporting countries (regions). Second, heterogeneity analysis reveals two key insights: (1) From the perspective of different types of digital trade rules, the depth indices of e-commerce clauses, data flow clauses, new data clauses, cross-cutting issues clauses, and digital intellectual property clauses all promote GVC participation among signatory countries (regions), with new data clauses having the most pronounced effect. (2) From the perspective of heterogeneity in country-pair types among RTA signatories, deeper digital trade rules in RTAs between developing-developing country pairs and developed-developed country pairs positively promote GVC participation of exporting countries (regions). Therefore, exploring the impact of regional digital trade rules on global value chain (GVC) participation holds significant theoretical and practical importance for China in formulating digital trade policies and enhancing its position within the global value chain.