Trade Liberalisation and Poverty in South Asia (Routledge Studies in the Growth Economies of Asia)

The link between trade liberalisation and poverty has arguably been one of the most debated topics in development policy debate. Existing studies on the subject have primarily used multi-country cross-sectional data, and there is a growing concern about the limitations of this approach in providing a sound empirical basis for informing the policy debate. These limitations point to the need for undertaking in-depth analyses within individual countries over time.In order to examine the connection between trade liberalisation and poverty, this book provides case studies of trade policy. Read more... Front Cover; Trade Liberalisation and Poverty in South Asia; Copyright Page; Contents; List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; List of contributors; Acronyms and abbreviations; 1. Trade liberalisation and poverty in South Asia: reforms, stylised facts and preview: Prema-chandra Athukorala, Jayatilleke S. Bandara and Saman Kelegama; Trade policy reforms: an overview; Economic performance and poverty: some stylised facts; Preview; 2. Trade and poverty: theory, evidence and policy issues: Jayatilleke S. Bandara; The trade-poverty nexus: an overview; The trade-poverty nexus in South Asia Lessons from other countriesConcluding remarks; 3. Bangladesh: Selim Raihan; Overview of trade liberalisation in Bangladesh; Impacts of trade liberalisation on economic growth in Bangladesh; Trade liberalisation and employment; Trade liberalisation and poverty: a computable general equilibrium analysis; The dynamic CGE model for the Bangladesh economy; Conclusion; 4. Bhutan: Chencho Dorji; Trade and investment policy reforms; Regional free trade agreements; Foreign direct investment policy; Trends in economic growth and poverty; Nexus between trade-growth-poverty Fiscal policy and poverty reductionTrade policy and poverty reduction; Poverty alleviation measures; Conclusion; 5. India: Rashmi Banga and Shruti Sharma; Trade liberalisation in India: a brief review; Agriculture; Manufacturing; Services; Trends in trade, poverty and inequality; Composition of India's export basket; Trends in income, growth and employment; Trends in poverty and inequality; Impact of trade on employment and wages: methodology; Empirical methodology; Database construction; Empirical results; Impact of trade on wages of unskilled labour in the agriculture sector Conclusions and policy implications6. Maldives: Jagath Dissanayake and Suwendrani Jayaratne; Trade liberalisation in Maldives: a brief overview; Post-reform trade performance; Post-reform growth, poverty and inequality trends; The link between trade and poverty; Summary and conclusion; 7. Nepal: Yuba Raj Khatiwada; Trade liberalisation in Nepal: an overview; Economic growth, poverty and inequality; Trade-poverty links: qualitative assessment; Concluding remarks; 8. Pakistan: Rehana Siddiqui; Liberalisation in Pakistan: an overview; Phase I: 1947 to 1958; Phase II: 1958-1980s Phase III: the 1990s and 2000sTrends in growth and poverty in Pakistan; Empirical investigation of the trade-poverty nexus; Conclusions and policy recommendations; 9. Sri Lanka: Deshal de Mel and Ruwan Jayathilaka; Policy context; Trends and patterns of poverty; The trade-poverty nexus; Cross-cutting issues; The trade-poverty nexus: econometric analysis; Policy implications and conclusion; Appendix 1; Appendix 2; Appendix 3; Bibliography; Index Front Cover......Page 1 Trade Liberalisation and Poverty in South Asia......Page 9 Copyright Page......Page 10 Contents......Page 11 List of Illustrations......Page 14 Acknowledgements......Page 16 List of contributors......Page 17 Acronyms and abbreviations......Page 19 1. Trade liberalisation and poverty in South Asia: reforms, stylised facts and preview: Prema-chandra Athukorala, Jayatilleke S. Bandara and Saman Kelegama......Page 23 Trade policy reforms: an overview......Page 25 Economic performance and poverty: some stylised facts......Page 29 Preview......Page 35 The trade–poverty nexus: an overview......Page 39 The trade–poverty nexus in South Asia......Page 42 Lessons from other countries......Page 54 Concluding remarks......Page 57 Overview of trade liberalisation in Bangladesh......Page 59 Impacts of trade liberalisation on economic growth in Bangladesh......Page 64 Trade liberalisation and employment......Page 66 Trade liberalisation and poverty: a computable general equilibrium analysis......Page 69 The dynamic CGE model for the Bangladesh economy......Page 70 Conclusion......Page 81 4. Bhutan: Chencho Dorji......Page 83 Trade and investment policy reforms......Page 84 Regional free trade agreements......Page 88 Foreign direct investment policy......Page 89 Trends in economic growth and poverty......Page 90 Nexus between trade–growth–poverty......Page 94 Fiscal policy and poverty reduction......Page 95 Trade policy and poverty reduction......Page 96 Poverty alleviation measures......Page 97 Conclusion......Page 100 5. India: Rashmi Banga and Shruti Sharma......Page 102 Trade liberalisation in India: a brief review......Page 103 Agriculture......Page 104 Manufacturing......Page 105 Services......Page 106 Trends in trade, poverty and inequality......Page 107 Composition of India’s export basket......Page 108 Trends in income, growth and employment......Page 110 Trends in poverty and inequality......Page 111 Impact of trade on employment and wages: methodology......Page 112 Database construction......Page 115 Empirical results......Page 116 Impact of trade on wages of unskilled labour in the agriculture sector......Page 118 Conclusions and policy implications......Page 119 6. Maldives: Jagath Dissanayake and Suwendrani Jayaratne......Page 122 Trade liberalisation in Maldives: a brief overview......Page 123 Post-reform trade performance......Page 126 Post-reform growth, poverty and inequality trends......Page 128 The link between trade and poverty......Page 132 Summary and conclusion......Page 137 Trade liberalisation in Nepal: an overview......Page 139 Economic growth, poverty and inequality......Page 142 Trade–poverty links: qualitative assessment......Page 145 Concluding remarks......Page 153 Liberalisation in Pakistan: an overview......Page 156 Phase I: 1947 to 1958......Page 157 Phase II: 1958–1980s......Page 158 Phase III: the 1990s and 2000s......Page 159 Trends in growth and poverty in Pakistan......Page 162 Empirical investigation of the trade–poverty nexus......Page 165 Conclusions and policy recommendations......Page 172 9. Sri Lanka: Deshal de Mel and Ruwan Jayathilaka......Page 173 Policy context......Page 174 Trends and patterns of poverty......Page 178 The trade–poverty nexus......Page 179 Cross-cutting issues......Page 185 The trade–poverty nexus: econometric analysis......Page 188 Policy implications and conclusion......Page 191 Appendix 1......Page 197 Appendix 2......Page 199 Appendix 3......Page 200 Bibliography......Page 202 Index......Page 218 The link between trade liberalisation and poverty has arguably been one of the most debated topics in development policy debate. Existing studies on the subject have primarily used multi-country cross-sectional data, and there is a growing concern about the limitations of this approach in providing a sound empirical basis for informing the policy debate. These limitations point to the need for undertaking in-depth analyses within individual countries over time. In order to examine the connection between trade liberalisation and poverty, this book provides case studies of trade policy reforms and poverty reduction outcomes of seven countries in South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The South Asia region allows for an excellent comparative study given the widespread emphasis on liberalisation reforms in the region over the past two decades, as well as highlighting significant inter-country differences in terms of the timing and comprehensiveness of reforms, and the heavy concentration of world poverty in the region. This book is a useful contribution to studies on South Asia, as well as International Trade and Development Economics.