During a period of trade liberalization (1985-89), when Mexican manufacturing experienced an important inflow of foreign direct investment, manufacturing sectors with heavy foreign direct investment received greater protection in import-competing sectors. With the move toward greater openness,...

The objective of this paper is to estimate the potential pro-poor bias in the existing structure of protection in six Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries (i.e., whether it redistributes income from rich to poor households). We also explore the extent to which the barriers faced by SSA exporters...

To understand the role of trade policies in the crisis of 2008, this paper constructs the overall trade restrictiveness indices for a wide range of countries using their tariff schedules in 2008 and 2009. The index summarizes the trade policy stance of a country, taking into account the share of...

Small states should pursue unilateral and multilateral trade liberalization, and members of the African, Caribbean, and Pacifice (ACP) group should expand reciprocal agreements with the European Union (Cotonou Agreement) to the entire OECD. They should intensify South-South regional cooperation...