Developing countries in the WTO /

The evolution of international trading rules has been of vital importance to developing countries that want to grow, and this well-written volume makes that link. Among other things, an outward-looking strategy forces domestic resource allocation and patterns of production and consumption to be carried out at international prices, which tends to produce optimum resource allocation and therefore maximum efficiency and consumer welfare. The book's first few chapters examine the role of developing countries in world trade, as well as the institutional framework in the form of the GATT and the WTO. Developing country policies are evaluated, as are such institutions as UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development), which are intended to deal with developing countries' specific interests. The final section of the book examines the role of developing countries in the WTO, where they are numerically in the vast majority but remain second-class players in terms of influence. While many multilateral agreements directly benefit these countries under most-favored-nation treatment, there remains a pattern of protection in developed countries that is arguably biased against them. Remedying these biases (including tariff escalation and discriminatory nontariff barriers) would have important, positive effects on the development process. Excellent bibliography. Recommended for academic collections, upper-division undergraduate and up. I. Walter New York University