The reading list below provides further details on different aspects of digital trade:
- Definitions, actors and directions
- Trade Agreements: Conflicts and politics
- Rules within trade agreements
- Measuring digital trade
Definitions, actors and directions
Both these papers look at definitions of digital trade and try to define a broader set of categories of digital trad,e for better understanding
- Ciuriak, D. & Ptashkina, M. (2018) The Digital Transformation and the Transformation of International Trade, Issue Paper, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).
- López González, J. & Jouanjean, M.-A. (2017) Digital Trade: Developing a Framework for Analysis, OECD Trade Policy Papers, 205, OECD Publishing, Paris, France.
Both these papers seek to analyse the role that data flows are playing in economic development. They discuss what it means if these flows are uneven between different countries
- Weber, S. (2017) Data, Development, and Growth. Business and Politics, 19(3), pp. 397–423.
- Mueller, M. & Grindal, K. (2019) Data Flows and the Digital Economy: Information as a Mobile Factor of Production. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance.
These papers detail different national positions on digital trade. The first details digital trade in the US, the second and third outline China’s position
- Aaronson, S.A. (2016) The Digital Trade Imbalance and Its Implications for Internet Governance, 25, Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Canada.
- Gao, H. (2018) Digital or Trade? The Contrasting Approaches of China and US to Digital Trade. Journal of International Economic Law, 21(2), pp. 297–321.
- He, Y. & Zeng, K. (2024) China in Global Digital Trade Governance: Towards a Development-Oriented Agenda? International Affairs, p. iiae177.
Discussion of the expansion of national digital policy with a focus on the motivations of latecomer economies
- Foster, C.G. & Azmeh, S. (2020) Latecomer Economies and National Digital Policy: An Industrial Policy Perspective. Journal of Development Studies, 56(7), pp. 1247–1262
Discussion of different national digital policies for industrialisation, including a detailed focus of India
- Singh, P.J. (2018) Digital Industrialisation in Developing Countries – A Review of the Business and Policy Landscape, IT for Change, Delhi, India.
Trade Agreements: Conflicts and politics
Discussing the politics of digital trade and the interaction between different levels of trade agreement (e.g. WTO, RTA, FTA)
- Azmeh, S., Foster, C.G. & Echavarri, J. (2020) The International Trade Regime and the Quest for Free Digital Trade. International Studies Review, 22(3), pp. 671–692.
Analysis of WTO debates on e-commerce/digital trade, including how rules interact with other WTO rules
- Kelsey, J. (2018) How a TPP-Style E-Commerce Outcome in the WTO Would Endanger the Development Dimension of the GATS Acquis (and Potentially the WTO). Journal of International Economic Law, 21(2), pp. 273–295.
Discussion of the politics and different positions on digital trade related to the crucial 2017 WTO Ministerial
- Foster, C. & Azmeh, S. (2018) The Digital Trade Agenda and Africa. Bridges Africa, 7(2).
Discussion of the political power and negotiations around different forum of digital trade (tax and digital trade negotiations)
- Hearson, M., Christensen, R.C. & Randriamanalina, T. (2023) Developing Influence: The Power of ‘the Rest’ in Global Tax Governance. Review of International Political Economy, 30(3), pp. 841–864.
- Li, W.Y. (2023) Regulatory Capture’s Third Face of Power. Socio-Economic Review, 21(2), pp. 1217–1245.
Rules in trade agreements
Provides an overview of the motivations and issues around cross-border data flows
- Meltzer, J.P. (2015) The Internet, Cross-Border Data Flows and International Trade. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 2(1), pp. 90–102.
Law analysis of China’s internet filtering, discussing the potential and challenges of mounting a case at the WTO
- Liu, C. (2011) Internet Censorship as a Trade Barrier: A Look at the WTO Consistency of the Great Firewall in the Wake of the China-Google Dispute. Georgetown Journal of International Law, 42(4), pp. 1199–1242.
Analysis of global and nation rules around digital tax
- Banga, K., Beyleveld, A. & Munu, M.L. (2025) Trading Away Tax Sovereignty? How Trade Rules Shape Taxation of the Digital Economy in Africa. Journal of International Economic Law, 28(1), pp. 43–62.
- Cadzow, L., Hearson, M., Heitmüller, F., et al. (2023) Inclusive and Effective International Tax Cooperation: Views From the Global South, ICTD Working Paper, 172, ICTD, Sussex, UK.
These two papers look examine the Moratorium on custom duties of digital products, with a focus on developing countries
- Banga, R. (2019) Growing Trade in Electronic Transmissions: Implications for the South, UNCTAD Research Paper, UNCTAD/SER.RP/2019/1, UNCTAD, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Kozul-Wright, R. & Banga, R. (2020) Moratorium on Electronic Transmissions: Fiscal Implications and Way Forward, UNCTAD Research Paper, 47, UNCTAD, Geneva, Switzerland.
Written prior to the 2017 WTO ministerial, this paper provides an overview of some of the limitations of including source code rules in trade agreements
- Smith, S.L. (2017) Some Preliminary Implications of WTOs Source Code Proposal, MC11 briefing paper, Third World Network
Detailed content analysis of digital trade chapters in major trade agreements
- Wu, M. (2017) Digital Trade-Related Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: Existing Models and Lessons for the Multilateral Trade System, ICTSD, Geneva, Switzerland.
Measuring Digital Trade
This book provides the most comprehensive discussion of how to measure digital trade and the many challenges faced
- OECD, WTO, & IMF (2023) Handbook on Measuring Digital Trade. 2nd edition. International Monetary Fund, Geneva
As part of this project, all articles of global digital trade agreements have been coded into a dataset to provide an overview of the evolving nature of digital trade