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...

As the economic crisis deepens and widens, fears of a return to the protectionist spiral of the 1930s become more common. However, an important difference between the 1930s and today is the existence of the World Trade Organization and the legal limits it imposes on the protectionist responses...

"This paper briefly reviews new indices of trade restrictiveness and trade facilitation that have been developed at the World Bank. The paper also compares the trade impact of different types of trade restrictions applied at the border with the effects of domestic policies that affect trade...