Understanding the complex relations between trade integration and poverty reduction is now a priority for Latin American policymakers. The chapters of this book, penned by eminent authors with a long-standing record in the field, represent the current state of knowledge about trade and poverty...

Economic integration theory goes through two development stages each of which addresses the relevant for its time political and economic context The first stage is regarded as classic theory or static analysis and includes the traditional theories of economic integration that explain the...

A paper commissioned by the IDB sees trade openness to generate economic growth and help reduce poverty. The study, written by aColumbia University economics professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin, takes a close look at the impact of regional trade agreements, finding benefits to outweigh the potential...

Following the rationale for regional redistribution programmes described in the official documents of the European Union, this Paper studies a very simple multi-country model built around two regions: a core and a periphery. Technological spillovers link firms’ productivity in each of the two...

If efficient economic activity requires appropriate public goods, then changes in the volume and flow of trade will induce changes in the demand for these public goods. In general, if people disagree over their preferred levels of public goods, the expansion of trade may affect the structure of...

Are there systematic forces such that countries of different sizes participating in a free trade bloc gain differently from the entry of new members? If economies of scale imply that firms located in large countries enjoy lower costs, then the gains from enlarging the bloc will fall...

The current debate in Western Europe centres on the relationship between economic and political integration. To address this problem, we construct a simple general equilibrium model in which the returns to trading are directly affected by the availability of a public good. In our model...

Understanding the complex relations between trade integration and poverty reduction is now a priority for Latin American policymakers. The chapters of this book, penned by eminent authors with a long-standing record in the field, represent the current state of knowledge about trade and poverty...

A paper commissioned by the IDB sees trade openness to generate economic growth and help reduce poverty. The study, written by aColumbia University economics professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin, takes a close look at the impact of regional trade agreements, finding benefits to outweigh the potential...

State and government leaders of the African Union are strongly committed to adopt and implement decisions for regional integration, seen as a common strategy for the development of the continent. The major objective at continental level is the establishment of the African Economic Community as...