Where the concepts of free markets and capitalism have been lauded to bring freedom and choice, they have been held responsible for bringing much worldwide social and economic disparity. Critics have blamed them for widespread crime, corruption and poverty. Wary of such consequences,...

Abstract Vertical specialization is a measure of the import content of exports. Given the widely recognized importance of trade in tasks and global production networks, vertical specialization has recently gained the attention of international trade researchers and policy makers. In this note,...

Abstract Is the emergence and rapid expansion of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) in Latin America associated with the turn to the left in Latin American politics? The paper applies a modified version of the Dolowitz and Marsh (2000) Policy Transfer Framework to successive waves of policy...

Abstract The evidence we have on chronic poverty and the fortunes of the poorest people suggests that a significant proportion of the poor, between one-quarter and one-half, are chronically poor in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Using the limited available data covering the last 20...

Abstract Human development conditional transfer programmes have been adopted by a majority of countries in Latin America to address the intergenerational persistence of poverty. Typically, programmes provide regular and reliable transfers in cash to households in poverty, with transfers...

Abstract This paper examines the generation and uses of expert knowledge around trade matters and the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in particular. It examines the input of such experts into the negotiation process, particularly through what is emerging as the dominant method of trade...

This paper takes stock of recent advancements in the literature on state capacity and connects them to the study of inclusive development. Specifically, four particular lines of argument are presented. First, state capacity is best approached as a multi-dimensional concept that can usefully be...

Abstract The conclusion of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) ninth ministerial meeting—held in Bali 3-7 December 2013—is at one and the same time momentous, marginal, and business-as-usual. It is momentous because it marks the first multilateral agreement reached in the WTO since the...

Abstract In 2005 China provided duty-free access to 190 items from 25 least developed sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Three years later duty-free access was extended to 454 items from 31 SSA LDCs. We find no evidence that China’s preferential market access program for the least developed...

Abstract Frameworks for understanding urban poverty have taken an asset-based approach that assesses livelihoods strategies on the basis of a household’s portfolio of assets. Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh reveals the limitations of such approaches. Their narrow focus on households and...