Can Trade Reduce Poverty in Africa?
While most economists accept that, in
the long run, open economies fare better in aggregate than
closed ones, many fears that trade could harm the poor.
African countries, for example, have realized significant
improvements in trade liberalization in recent decades, yet
Africa remains the poorest continent in the world. It seems
that the large gains expected from opening up to
international economic forces have been limited in Africa,
especially for poor people. Drawing on the findings of a
recently published working paper (Le Goff and Singh 2013),
this note argues that the benefits of trade are not
automatic, but rather depend on accompanying policies aimed
at developing the financial sector, promoting primary
education, and improving governance. This accompanying
policy agenda allows people to take advantage of the
opportunities offered by freer trade, by reallocating
resources away from less productive activities to more
promising ones. Trade liberalization therefore should not be
implemented on its own, but with the necessary complementing policies.
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Bibliographic Details
| Main Authors: |
Le Goff, Maëlan,
Singh, Rajun Jan |
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| Language: | English
en_US |
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| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013-04
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| Subjects: | AGRICULTURE,
BARRIERS TO ENTRY,
BENEFITS OF TRADE,
CAPITAL ACCUMULATION,
CAPITAL GOODS,
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE,
COMPETITION POLICY,
COUNTRY CHARACTERISTICS,
COUNTRY RISK,
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES,
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS,
DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH,
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES,
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
ECONOMIC GROWTH,
ECONOMIC LITERATURE,
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES,
ECONOMIC POLICY,
ECONOMIC STUDIES,
ECONOMIC VOLATILITY,
ECONOMICS,
EDUCATION LEVEL,
FACTORS OF PRODUCTION,
FINANCIAL DEPTH,
FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT,
FINANCIAL MARKETS,
FINANCIAL SECTOR,
FINANCIAL SECTORS,
FOREIGN COMPETITION,
FOREIGN INVESTORS,
GDP,
GLOBAL ECONOMY,
GLOBAL EXPORTS,
GLOBAL TRADE,
GLOBALIZATION,
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT,
GROWTH RATE,
HUMAN CAPITAL,
IMPACT OF TRADE,
IMPORT BANS,
IMPORTS,
IMPROVING GOVERNANCE,
INCOME,
INCOMES,
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS,
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS,
INTERNATIONAL TRADE,
INVESTMENT CLIMATE,
LABOR MARKET,
LONG RUN,
MACROECONOMIC STABILITY,
MONETARY ECONOMICS,
NATURAL RESOURCES,
OPEN ECONOMIES,
OPEN TRADE REGIMES,
POLICY REFORMS,
POLICY RESEARCH,
POOR COUNTRIES,
POOR PEOPLE,
POVERTY ALLEVIATION,
POVERTY REDUCTION,
PRIMARY EDUCATION,
PRIVATE SECTOR CREDIT,
PRO-POOR,
PROPERTY RIGHTS,
REAL INCOME,
RESOURCE ALLOCATION,
RESTRICTIVE RULES OF ORIGIN,
SIGNIFICANT IMPACT,
SPECIALIZATION,
TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS,
TRADE EFFECTS,
TRADE FACILITATION,
TRADE INTEGRATION,
TRADE LIBERALIZATION,
TRADE OPENING,
TRADE OPENNESS,
TRADE POLICIES,
TRADE PROTECTION,
TRADE REFORMS,
TRADE REGIME,
TRADE RESTRICTIONS,
UNSKILLED LABOR,
UNSKILLED WORKERS,
WAGE INEQUALITY,
WAGE STRUCTURE,
WTO, |
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/04/17629950/can-trade-reduce-poverty-africa
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16123
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