This paper applies the balance of payments constrained growth model to seventeen countries of Latin America over the period 1977-2002. The crucial parameter to estimate is the income elasticity of demand for imports which is done for Latin America as a whole, as well as for individual countries....

The paper reviews the evidence of the impact of trade liberalisation on the economic performance of poor developing countries with respect to poverty reduction, the distribution of income within countries, the distribution of income between countries, trade and the balance of payments, and...