Resource-Poor Farmers in South India: On the Margins or Frontiers of Globalization?

Abstract

In this chapter we examine how globalization, while providing the potential for higher overall economic growth, may often fail to improve the wellbeing of the poor. Several recent econometric studies have examined the impact of globalization on poverty using data from a wide range of countries.¹ However, these studies have largely used reduced-form specifications that do not shed any light on the different pathways through which globalization affects the well-being of the poor. Thus it is not surprising that most of the current debate is focused on technical issues regarding whether, and to what extent, globalization has increased world poverty rather than on understanding how globalization affects the poor. The latter requires an analysis of the multiple pathways that different regions/countries have undertaken. The process of globalization integrates different regions, but there is a large diversity in the manner and the extent to which this integration takes place. Understanding this diversity is critical to the formulation of anti-poverty policies around the world.