Summary

Research report: Illustrates the ways developing economies have benefited from WTO accession and membership and highlights the challenges faced when participating in the global trading system.

Description

Authors: Peter Gallagher, Patrick Low and Andrew L. Stoler (eds).

Cambridge University Press, 2005

This publication from the World Trade Organization and AusAID is intended to give students, policy makers and development practitioners a guide to the benefits gained from WTO membership. It demonstrates that success or failure is strongly influenced by how governments and private sector stakeholders organise themselves at home.

The contributors, mainly from developing countries, give examples of participation with lessons for others. They show that when the system is accessed and employed effectively, it can serve the interests of poor and rich countries alike. However, a failure to communicate among interested parties at home often contributes to negative outcomes on the international front.

Above all, these case studies demonstrate that the WTO creates a framework within which sovereign decision-making can generate important opportunities or undermine the potential benefits flowing from a rules-based international environment that promotes open trade.

The book can be purchased online from Cambridge University Press [external website]

Or view the chapters on the WTO website [external website]

This report was commissioned by AusAID. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of AusAID or the Australian Government.