The purpose of this document is to inform Bank staff and other interested parties about recent developments in integration and trade among the countries of the Western Hemisphere and between these and other countries and world regions.

This paper deals with a topic that has been amply debated in the development literature: the relationship between trade and growth. The paper's hypothesis is that what matters for growth is not merely openness to trade, or, for that matter, export growth per se. The key feature of countries that...

In today's globalized world, goods and capital are flowing as never before. The movement of people across borders has also enlarged significantly. About 215 million people live away from their home country and many members of such Diasporas are prospering abroad and are eager to extend such...

The enforcement of the MERCOSUR as an imperfect customs union is determined by the existence of a Common External Tariff (CET) which has not been fully applied up to this moment. The smallest countries in the MERCOSUR are more open, more specialized and a larger share of their total trade is...

This presentation was commissioned by the Trade and Integration Network of the Regional Policy Dialogue for the 5th Hemispheric Meeting celebrated on August 14th and 15th, 2003. This presentation discusses trade taxes as an important source of revenue in developing countries. The relationship...

Exporting fresh flowers is one of very few successful efforts by producers in low-income countries to compete in international markets of high-value agricultural goods. While this success results from producers' ability to take advantage of their geographic location and access to low labor...

This study covers the impact of the emergence of China on Central American economies, with special emphasis on Guatemala and Honduras. The issue of the China¿s impact is generally approached from the standpoint of threats hovering over the economies of Central America (and of others in Region...

China's emergence has raised pointed questions about the future of manufacturing in Latin America. Once saw as its economic future, the viability of this activity in the region has long been challenged by traditional trade theory and, in practical terms, by at least three generations of Asian...

The purpose of this document is to contribute to the ongoing discussion on climate change in light of the available evidence on the possible channels of transmission of the economic impact of this phenomenon and the results of the latest session of the Conference of the Parties to the United...