Le Goff, MaëlanSingh, Rajun Jan2013-10-112013-10-112013-04https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16123While most economists accept that, in the long run, open economies fare better in aggregate than closed ones, many fears that trade could harm the poor. African countries, for example, have realized significant improvements in trade liberalization in recent decades, yet Africa remains the poorest continent in the world. It seems that the large gains expected from opening up to international economic forces have been limited in Africa, especially for poor people. Drawing on the findings of a recently published working paper (Le Goff and Singh 2013), this note argues that the benefits of trade are not automatic, but rather depend on accompanying policies aimed at developing the financial sector, promoting primary education, and improving governance. This accompanying policy agenda allows people to take advantage of the opportunities offered by freer trade, by reallocating resources away from less productive activities to more promising ones. Trade liberalization therefore should not be implemented on its own, but with the necessary complementing policies.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOAGRICULTUREBARRIERS TO ENTRYBENEFITS OF TRADECAPITAL ACCUMULATIONCAPITAL GOODSCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITION POLICYCOUNTRY CHARACTERISTICSCOUNTRY RISKDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHDEVELOPMENT STRATEGIESECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC LITERATUREECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC STUDIESECONOMIC VOLATILITYECONOMICSEDUCATION LEVELFACTORS OF PRODUCTIONFINANCIAL DEPTHFINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SECTORSFOREIGN COMPETITIONFOREIGN INVESTORSGDPGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL EXPORTSGLOBAL TRADEGLOBALIZATIONGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROWTH RATEHUMAN CAPITALIMPACT OF TRADEIMPORT BANSIMPORTSIMPROVING GOVERNANCEINCOMEINCOMESINTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSINTERNATIONAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINVESTMENT CLIMATELABOR MARKETLONG RUNMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMONETARY ECONOMICSNATURAL RESOURCESOPEN ECONOMIESOPEN TRADE REGIMESPOLICY REFORMSPOLICY RESEARCHPOOR COUNTRIESPOOR PEOPLEPOVERTY ALLEVIATIONPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIVATE SECTOR CREDITPRO-POORPROPERTY RIGHTSREAL INCOMERESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESTRICTIVE RULES OF ORIGINSIGNIFICANT IMPACTSPECIALIZATIONTECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESSTRADE EFFECTSTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE INTEGRATIONTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE OPENINGTRADE OPENNESSTRADE POLICIESTRADE PROTECTIONTRADE REFORMSTRADE REGIMETRADE RESTRICTIONSUNSKILLED LABORUNSKILLED WORKERSWAGE INEQUALITYWAGE STRUCTUREWTOWorld Bankhttps://doi.org/10.1596/16123