Recent Trade Liberalisation in the Developing World: What is Behind it and Where is it Headed?

Abstract

This chapter tries to document the extent and coverage of recent external sector liberalisation in developing countries, evaluate what is behind it, and assess whether it is likely to persist, accelerate or reverse itself. As such, it draws heavily upon material collected during a recent Ford Foundation-supported research project on developing countries and the global trading system (see Whalley, 1989) covering eleven developing countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Republic of Korea and Tanzania).

I am grateful to Colleen Hamilton and Leigh MacDonald for research support, and to David Greenaway and Frank Gunter for comments. The paper draws on material collected during the course of a recent Ford Foundation-supported project on Developing Countries and the Global Trading System.