The Poor under Globalization in Asia, Latin America, and Africa

Globalization and poverty are two of the most pressing contemporary international development issues. Despite the enormous potential of globalization to accelerate economic growth and development, through greater integration into the world economy, the spread and transfer of technology, and the transmission of knowledge, its impact on poverty reduction has been uneven and even marginal in some regions. Both the prevalence and depth of poverty in many parts of the developing world remain unacceptably high. This volume presents thirteen studies selected from the three regional conferences organized under the auspices of UNU-WIDER. They illustrate the differential effects of globalization on growth, inequality, and poverty in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Distinct processes of institutional and socio-political change, as well as significant differences in initial conditions, such as natural resource endowment, the quantity and quality of human capital, institutional framework, and the quality of governance, have had diverse effects on the poor in these regions. Focusing on distinct manifestations of globalization and their affect on poverty, these case studies cover the spectrum from broad macroeconomic regional and country analyses to micro-oriented village studies in each of the three continents. This volume clearly illustrates that the impact of globalization on poverty is extremely context specific, reflecting the heterogeneous and complex nature of the globalization-poverty nexus. Contributors to this volume - Machiko Nissanke, SOAS, University of London Erik Thorbecke, Cornell University David Mayer-Foulkes, Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas Division de Economia Alok Bhargava, University of Houston Terutomo Ozawa, Colorado State University N. R. Bhanumurthy,University Enclave, New Delhi Arup Mitra, University Enclave, New Delhi Yujiro Hayami, Advanced Studies on International Development, Tokyo Yin Zhang, University of Dundee Guanghua Wan, Asian Development Bank Francisco H.G. Ferreira, World Bank Phillippe G. Leite, World Bank Matthew Wai-Poi, World Bank Janice E. Perlman, President of The Mega-Cities Project, New York Alfred J. Field, University of North Carolina Erica Field, Harvard University Jeffrey I. Round, University of Warwick Stefan Dercon, University of Oxford David E. Sahn, Cornell University Stephen D. Younger, Cornell University Servaas van der Berg, University of Stellenbosch Ronelle Burger, University of Stellenbosch Megan Louw, former Researcher, University of Stellenbosch