ABSTRACT
Substantial heat and in some ways limited light surrounds the linkages between globalisation and poverty. Despite the allegations and concerns that globalisation adversely affects the poor (Khor, 2002; Watkins, 2002), and especially so in poorer countries, and counter-claims that it has ‘supported’ poverty reduction (World Bank, 2002), conclusive evidence on the linkages and the magnitude of effects is difficult to find. There is extensive literature discussing the possible channels through which globalisation and poverty are linked1 and a body of theoretical and empirical literature seeming to provide evidence either in one direction or the other (O’Rourke, 2001; McKay, Winters and Kedir, 2000; Dollar and Kraay, 2001; Weller and Hersh, 2002), so the outcomes are, at best, ambiguous.
