Who Gains from Free Trade : Export-Led Growth, Inequality and Poverty in Latin America

The issue of the pros and cons of free trade from the point of view of developing countries refuses to dissipate, and in Latin America, the debate rages most fiercely. Argentina is still licking its wounds after a catastrophic past five years, and Brazil and others have hardened their line – even going so far as to initiate the influential new G20 group of the most powerful LDCs.

Who Gains from Free Trade examines the extent to which trade reforms have been an important source of the slowdown of economic growth, rising inequality and rising poverty as observed in many parts of the region. This volume presents a comprehensive analysis of this important topic, utilizing:

• research based on sixteen country narratives of policy reform and economic performance
• rigorous general equilibrium (CGE) modelling of the economy-wide effects of trade reform for all country cases
• application of an innovative method of microsimulations to assess the employment and factor income distribution impact of policy reforms on poverty and inequality at the household level.

This important study, a valuable resource for postgraduate students of development economics and political economy, examines all the current issues and brings together some of the world’s leading experts.