The Political Economy of Trade Reform in Emerging Markets: Crisis or Opportunity?

This timely book brings a fresh analysis to the important issue of trade policy reform in emerging markets. The subject matter, and its significance, is comprehensively introduced with a review of developing country liberalization since the 1980s, which provides an analytical framework for interrogating the seven country case studies that follow. The case studies (Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, and South Africa) cover a wide variety of political, historical and economic issues, but all make clear the role that crisis, or the threat of it, plays in meaningful trade policy reform. This is of particular relevance in the current global financial crisis. These studies, together with the conclusions which are drawn from them, show how important the trade liberalization agenda remains in the 21st century.