ABSTRACT
The second half of the twentieth century witnessed major developments in international politics and economics. The creation of international institutions (such as the United Nations (UN) system, World Bank and more recently World Trade Organizations (WTO)), the fall of the Berlin wall and collapse of the former Soviet Union (FSU), and widespread removal of barriers to trade and investment by the majority of countries are diverse examples. These developments have promoted greater integration of the global economy, reflected in increased mobility of goods, people and capital between countries. Together with developments in transport and especially communications, this has significantly increased economic interdependence among countries, leading to an unprecedented growth in world output and international trade. For example, from 1947-97, world output grew sixfold whilst international trade increased 16-fold. In common parlance the term ‘globalization’ encompasses all of these developments, and the beneficial and adverse effects associated with them. Globalization is a major phenomenon, open to a variety of interpretations and the subject of considerable research and comment. This volume concentrates on one element of globalization, trade between nations, and uses case studies to attempt to assess how increased trade affects growth, inequality and poverty in developing countries (although some of the countries included may be called transition countries, we adopt the more general term developing).
