Trade and Structural Adjustment: Embracing Globalisation identifies the requirements for successful reallocation of labour and capital to more efficient uses in response to the emergence of new sources of competition, technological change and shifting consumer preferences.

The changes in the global economy are so profound, this book argues, that the world is now confronted with nothing less - in both institutional and policy terms - than a new political economy of development. The author provides an intellectually commanding survey of this new terrain. He subjects its economic and ideological assumptions to trenchant critique and shows how the rules of the game primarily reflect the interests of the rich and powerful countries of the North. He also surveys the economic performance of the various regions of the South and explores the real reasons for the success of certain Asian economies (reasons which run counter to so many of the policy prescriptions laid down by the West for the rest of the South).

The term 'adjustment' relates to the use of policy instruments to effect structural changes in the economic environment, in order to help facilitate growth promotion through improvements in productivity and market competition. This publication examines the reallocation of labour and capital to achieve more efficient use of new sources of competition, technological change and shifting consumer preferences, whilst limiting adjustment costs for individuals, communities and society as a whole. Based on specific sectoral case studies, it includes analysis of the adjustment challenge and policy framework in both developed and developing countries, together with practical recommendations for good practice.

This paper focuses on the sluggish growth of world trade relative to income growth in recent years. The analysis uses an empirical strategy based on an error correction model to assess whether the global trade slowdown is structural or cyclical. An estimate of the relationship between trade and income in the past four decades reveals that the long-term trade elasticity rose sharply in the 1990s, but declined significantly in the 2000s even before the global financial crisis. These results suggest that trade is growing slowly not only because of slow growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but also because of a structural change in the trade-GDP relationship in recent years. The available evidence suggests that the explanation may lie in the slowing pace of international vertical specialization rather than increasing protection or the changing composition of trade and GDP.

Our Continent, Our Future presents the emerging African perspective on this complex issue. The authors use as background their own extensive experience and a collection of 30 individual studies, 25 of which were from African economists, to summarize this African perspective and articulate a path for the future. They underscore the need to be sensitive to each country's unique history and current condition. They argue for a broader policy agenda and for a much more active role for the state within what is largely a market economy. Finally, they stress that Africa must, and can, compete in an increasingly globalized world and, perhaps most importantly, that Africans must assume the leading role in defining the continent's development agenda.