The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Poverty

Conference Agenda

Session I:
The Basic Links between Trade, Growth, and Poverty
This session reviewed current research on the links between trade, growth, and poverty. The panel provided different perspectives on these questions and will include voices from both emerging market and least developed countries. This session also assessed what current research can and cannot tell us about the impact of trade on poverty.

Chair:
Kent Hughes, Director, Program on Science, Technology, America
and the Global Economy, Woodrow Wilson Center

Speakers:
Neil McCulloch, Senior Poverty Economist, World Bank Group, Indonesia
Presentation by Neil McCulloch

Ann Harrison, Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics,
University of California, Berkeley
Globalization and Poverty by Ann Harrison
Presentation by Ann Harrison

Commentator:
Bruce Stokes, Trade and International Economics Correspondent,
The National Journal
Will CAFTA Help Central America's Poor? by Bruce Stokes

Session II:
How the Poor Respond to Opportunity and Adversity
This panel set the stage for discussion in Sessions III and IV by exploring how poor households respond to trade-related opportunities and challenges such as drops in prices or increases in competition. What conditions affect the poor's ability to take advantage of opportunities created by trade liberalization such as increased exports or a shift from subsistence to marketable crops? Because the poor are not a homogeneous population, the panel explored how the impact of trade, coping strategies, and policies varies from one group of poor to another.

Chair:
Borany Penh, Political Economist, Poverty Analysis and Social Safety Net Team, United States Agency for International Development

Panelists:
Thomas Hertel, Professor, Purdue University and Visiting Scholar,
World Bank Group
Poverty Impacts of a WTO Agreement: Synthesis and Overview by Thomas Hertel and Alan Winters
Presentation by Thomas Hertel

William Masters, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University
Trade and Poverty in Rural Africa by William Masters
Presentation by William Masters

Commentator:
Caren Grown, Poverty Reduction and Economic Governance Team,
International Center for Research on Women

Luncheon Keynote Speaker:
Sebastian Mallaby, Editorial Writer and Columnist, The Washington Post

Session III:
The Contrasting Country Experiences
Panel members used country studies to understand how complementary investments (education, roads, health, etc.) and policies (effective administration, competitive exchange rates) have influenced the impact of trade liberalization on poverty in Africa, Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.

Chair:
William Krist, Senior Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center

Panelists:
Theodore Antwi-Asare, Professor, University of Ghana at Legon
Globalization, Employment and Poverty in Ghana by Theodore Antwi-Asare

Debapriya Bhattacharya, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue,
Bangladesh, and Visiting Fulbright Fellow, Center for Global Development

Rebeca Grynspan, Director,
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Presentation by Rebeca Grynspan

Rosario Guzman, Executive Director,
IBON Foundation, Philippines

Commentator:
Aseema Sinha, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison and
Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center

Session IV:
Challenges for Policymakers
Policymakers in USAID, international financial institutions, and national legislators must apply the lessons drawn from models, statistical analysis, and case studies to current trade negotiations. If, for instance, the Doha Round opened up markets in specific commodities (say cotton, rice, or sugar) how might specific countries respond? What complementary policies, say investments in port facilities or sanitary inspections, would make a difference? How important are improved health and education? Could investments in better roads, the development of an agricultural extension service, and risk limited micro-finance open opportunities for small farmers?

Chair:
John Sewell, Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center

Panelists:
Ruth Jacoby, Director-General for Development Cooperation,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden

Gawain Kripke, Senior Policy Advisor, Oxfam America

Kamal Malhotra, Senior Advisor on Inclusive Globalisation,
United Nations Development Program

Walter North, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia and
the Near East, United States Agency for International Development

Support for this conference was generously provided by:

United States Agency for International Development
Office of Poverty Reduction, Poverty Analysis and Social Safety Nets

and

3M Company