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Assessing the Poverty Bias of Growth Methodology and an Application to Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh

Published by: IDS

Despite widespread agreement that economic policy in developing countries should promote pro-poor growth, there is relatively little consensus regarding the definition of pro-poor growth.

Thinking Strategically About Politics and Poverty

Published by: IDS

What are the prospects that governments and political systems in developing countries will be pro-poor? This synthesis of a large...

Developing Countries and Multilateralism

Developing countries have joined the WTO in large numbers, in the expectation that its objectives of rule-based liberal trade will foster development. They will influence, and be affected by, the flurry of new negotiations scheduled for the turn of the millennium.

Regional Trade Agreements

Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) are fashionable. Many developing countries are, or are likely to become, involved In negotiating such arrangements. But do they advance or retard multilateralist and developmental objectives?

Agricultural Trade

The Uruguay Round began a process of reinforcing rules and liberalising trade in temperate agricultural goods. Developing countries in aggregate are likely to benefit eventually, but much work still has to be done and some states and socio-economic groups may face significant adjustment problems.

Trade Protection in the Textile and Clothing Industries

The textile and clothing trade is of major importance for developing countries, including the poorest, and it will undergo substantial change over the next decade. The comprehensive system of protectionism, with the quantitative restrictions of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) at its heart, is being dismantled.

International Competition Policy

How far do global markets need global competition rules? The question is under review both in the WTO and in other fora, such as the OECD. Developing countries want to see tougher rules applied to multinational corporations (MNCs) and less anti-dumping, but not to be forced into adopting specific WTO-defined rules.

Intellectual Property Rights

The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) is the most comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property rights (IPRs), supplementing the basic World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Conventions with substantive obligations within WTO disciplines.

Trade in Service

Services trade and investment are increasingly important for developing countries. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) set benchmarks and a framework for future liberalisation. So far the GATS process has not achieved significant additional liberalisation.

Trade and Enviromental Standards

During the next WTO Round there will be strong calls explicitly to integrate environmental issues into the trade agenda.