Abstract
This paper develops an intra-industry service trade model taking into account important features of services. We find that service trade liberalization between identical economies is welfare enhancing when the pre-trade domestic market liberalization is limited. This holds regardless of the degree of trade liberalization and of the mode of supply. However, if the pre-trade environment is characterized by a free-entry equilibrium, then service trade liberalization is not necessarily welfare improving. It is welfare enhancing if the trade liberalization is full and the mode of supply is cross-border. The gain from trade in our model comes from the improvement in service quality—better matching between consumers’ ideal varieties and firms’ product specificity. The implications for the mode of supply in service trade are also explored.
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