Over the past two decades, the percentage of the world’s population living on less than a dollar a day has been cut in half. How much of that improvement is because of—or in spite of—globalization? While anti-globalization activists mount loud critiques and the media report breathlessly on globalization’s perils and promises, economists have largely remained silent, in part because of an entrenched institutional divide between those who study poverty and those who study trade and finance. Globalization and Poverty bridges that gap, bringing together experts on both international trade and poverty to provide a detailed view of the effects of globalization on the poor in developing nations, answering such questions as: Do lower import tariffs improve the lives of the poor? Has increased financial integration led to more or less poverty? How have the poor fared during various currency crises? Does food aid hurt or help the poor? Poverty, the contributors show here, has been used as a popular and convenient catchphrase by parties on both sides of the globalization debate to further their respective arguments. Globalization and Poverty provides the more nuanced understanding necessary to move that debate beyond the slogans.

The new phase of challenging globalization is characterized by economic multipolarity with significant weight of the South. Due to dynamism and openness, today the largest and the rapidly-growing developing countries play a fundamental role in stabilizing the world economy. This second edition of the UNCTAD publication focuses on increasing of analytical emphasis and explains new and emerging economic trends. The publication provides brief outline of data and information, and describes UNCTAD's independent research in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.

Deftly navigating the tensions among globalization, national sovereignty, and democracy, Straight Talk on Trade presents an indispensable commentary on today's world economy and its dilemmas, and offers a visionary framework at a critical time when it is most needed.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

Globalization and Development draws upon the experiences of the Latin American and Caribbean region to provide a multidimensional assessment of the globalization process from the perspective of developing countries. Based on a study by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), this book gives a historical overview of economic development in the region and presents both an economic and noneconomic agenda that addresses disparity, respects diversity, and fosters complementarity among regional, national, and international institutions. For orders originating outside of North America, please visit the World Bank website for a list of distributors and geographic discounts at http://publications.worldbank.org/howtoorder or e-mail [email protected].

Text of this paper was circulated at the South Summit, Havana, Cuba, 10-14 Apr 2000.

Globalization - the growing integration of economies and societies around the world, is a complex process. The focus of this research is the impact of economic integration on developing countries and especially the poor people living in these countries. Whether economic integration supports poverty reduction and how it can do so more effectively are key questions asked. The research yields 3 main findings with bearings on current policy debates about globalization. Firstly, poor countries with some 3 billion people have broken into the global market for manufactures and services, and this successful integration has generally supported poverty reduction. Secondly, inclusion both across countries and within them is important as a number of countries (pop. 2 billion) are failing as states, trading less and less, and becoming marginal to the world economy. Thirdly, standardization or homogenization is a concern - will economic integration lead to cultural or institutional homogenization?

The private sector has an important role in poverty reduction in Asia. The Private Sector's Role in Poverty Reduction in Asia argues that the best way to create sustainable projects is to create win-win situations where both private companies and individuals working their way out of poverty can benefit. The book provides a practical guide for managers and individuals working in the private sector in the least developed areas of Asia to help make a difference to the lives of others. The book's opening chapter considers the private sector's role in poverty reduction in Asia and following chapters discuss the variable nature of development, developing economy environments in Asia and business practices and strategies in these economies. A number of Asian economies are considered in turn, including: China; Vietnam; Thailand; Cambodia; Laos PDR; Southeast Asian countries; South Asian countries; Central Asian countries; and the Himalayas. The final chapter looks at creating sustainable win-win situations. - Focuses on practical advice for acting managers - Uses primary research carried out in developing economies, with interviews and ideas from local managers and business owners - Covers a variety of academic theories, empirical evidence and personal experiences of individuals working in the region

Over the next 25 years developing countries will move to center stage in the global economy. Global Economic Prospects 2007 analyzes the opportunities - and stresses - this will create. While rich and poor countries alike stand to benefit, the integration process will make more acute stresses already apparent today - in income inequality, in labor markets, and in the environment. Over the next 25 years, rapid technological progress, burgeoning trade in goods and services, and integration of financial markets create the opportunity for faster long-term growth. However, some regions, notably Africa, are at risk of being left behind. The coming globalization will also see intensified stresses on the "global commons." Addressing global warming, preserving marine fisheries, and containing infectious diseases will require effective multilateral collaboration to ensure that economic growth and poverty reduction proceed without causing irreparable harm to future generations."

Globalization is everyone's business, asserts Kiggundu in this comprehensive examination of globalization's influences on transition economies. Globalization presents challenges to developed and developing countries alike, and these challenges can and must be managed. Countries making the move from state-run to market-driven economies were faced with formidable obstacles even before globalization's effects were fully felt. Kiggundu argues that we, the incipient global society comprised of governments, corporations, NGOs, and individuals, must take a strategic approach to managing globalization. He explores strategies in the fields of public sector reform, governmental use of technology, foreign direct investment and international trade policy, the evolving World Trade Organization, cultures of entrepreneurship, labor standards, and environmental protection. Strategies for managing globalization are not merely to achieve and maintain dominance or competitiveness, but also to integrate the concerns voiced by globalization's harshest critics and most disenfranchised victims: ethics, equity, inclusion, physical and psychological human security, sustainability, and development. Kiggundu contends that these values, summarized in a 1999 United Nations Development report, should go hand in hand with the mantras we hear from the management literature: profitability and maximizing shareholder value, among other traditional corporate goals. Providing a broad variety of examples, from Chile's management of financial crisis to the vision statements of Botswana and Malaysia, Kiggundu delineates the many ways in which developing countries are successfully managing the vagaries of globalization.