The WTO, Developing Countries and the Doha Development Agenda: Prospects and Challenges for Trade-led Growth(Studies in Development Economics and Policy)

These are turbulent times for the international trading community, the WTO in particular. Although Cancun failed, * Can the WTO still reassert its development-credibility by ensuring that Doha truly becomes the Development Round? * What should the negotiating strategy of the developing countries be? * Will the political constituencies in the OECD allow reform of their domestic policies that benefit the developing countries? * How big are the regional disparities in the effects of agricultural trade reform in the developing countries? ** Are the Preferential Trading Agreements doing enough for the least developed countries? ** How much more can the US, the EU and Japan do to increase developing countries' exports? These and other vital questions are addressed in this volume which has been prepared within the UNU/WIDER project on The Impact of the WTO Regime on Developing Countries.

Table of Contents:
PART I: OVERVIEW The WTO, Trade and Development: An Introduction; B.Guha-Khasnobis Developing Countries and the WTO Doha Round: Market Access, Rules and Differential Treatment; B.Hoekman PART II: AGRICULTURE Trade Liberalization, Agriculture, and Poverty in Low-income Countries; K.Anderson OECD Domestic Support and Developing Countries; B.Dimaranan, T.Hertel & R.Keeney Impact of Trade Liberalization on Returns from Land: A Regional Study of Indian Agriculture; N.Ghosh The Value of Agricultural Tariff Rate Quotas to Developing Countries; C.Laroche Dupraz & A.Matthews PART III: MANUFACTURING Industrial Tariffs, LDCs and the Doha Development Agenda; M.Bacchetta & Bijit Bora Developed Country Trade Barriers and the Least Developed Countries: The Economic Results of Freeing Trade; J.D.Haveman & H.J.Shatz The EU's Everything But Arms Initiative and the Least-developed Countries; L.Cernat, S.Laird, L.Monge-Roffarello & A.Turrini Export Subsidies: Theory, Evidence, and the WTO Agreement on Subsidies; R.Ahuja

About the Author :
BASUDEB GUHA-KHASNOBIS is a Research Fellow and Project Director at UNU-WIDER. Previous appointments include IGIDR (Mumbai), the EXIM Bank of India (Bangalore), ICRIER (New Delhi), and as a research consultant for several international organizations. He has published in numerous academic journals.

Review :
'It seems that with each new book it issues, UNU-WIDER further establishes its reputation as the intellectual leader among international organisations.' -John Weeks, Professor of Development Economics, SOAS, University of London 'This volume shows that a lack of good arguments for ambitious trade liberalization is not the problem at the Doha Round talks. A vast array of crucial issues for both the agriculture and the industrial products negotiations are soundly addressed in this useful book.' - Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and former President of Mexico 'The prospects for rapid economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries are critically dependent upon the climate for external trade. This volume presents an invaluable and systematic analysis of such prospects covering a wide canvas of issues including market access, tariffs and non-tariff barriers, export subsidies, OECD domestic support and the like. As such, it will be of considerable value to the large audience interested in this topic.' - Raghbendra Jha, Rajiv Gandhi Chair Professor and Executive Director, Australia South Asia Research Centre, RSPAS, Australian National University 'As the contributors in this volume demonstrate, advancing the agenda for development within the Doha negotiations is in the commercial and development interests of developing and developed countries alike. The articles address a number of critical issues related to efforts to reform and liberalize agricultural trade and increase market access for industrial products of export interest to developing countries, while at the same time, taking fully into account flexibilities and measures for developing countries and LDCs. Trade negotiators, development economists and national policy-makers will benefit from the comprehensive treatment of the WTO issues provided herein.' - Lakshmi Puri, Director, Division for International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva 'This book is a valuable source of both information and analysis on the main agenda items facing developing countries in future negotiations on the WTO. The various contributors pragmatically assess what developing countries should try to get and how they should go about getting it.' - Gary McMahon, Principal Economist, Global Development Network, Washington DC 'Can the Doha Development Agenda truly be implemented? This book responds affirmatively and backs up its assertion with practical, empirically substantiated, proposals for trade in both agricultural commodities and manufactured goods.' - Mr. Lyn Squire, Director, Global Development Network 'An invaluable source of information and arguments for policy makers in developing countries - this is an excellent source of information and arguments for trade liberalization, which is strongly recommended to anyone interested in the effects of trade reform on poor nations' - Journal of International Development