Is the Washington consensus dead? Growth, openness, and the great liberation, 1970s - 2000s

Arbeitspapier

According to the Washington Consensus, developing countries' growth would benefit from reductions in barriers to trade. However, the empirical basis for judging trade reforms is weak. Econometrics are mostly ad hoc; results are typically not judged against models; policies are poorly measured; and most studies are based on pre-1990 experience. We address these concerns-by using a model based on capital and intermediate goods; by compiling new disaggregated tariff measures; and by employing treatment-and-control analysis. We find that a specific treatment, liberalizing tariffs on imported capital and intermediate goods, did lead to faster growth in a manner consistent with theory.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IDB Working Paper Series ; No. IDB-WP-138

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Studies of Particular Policy Episodes ; Trade: General ; Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations ; Economic Growth of Open Economies ; International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations ; Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: General, International, or Comparative ; Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services: General, International, or Comparative ; Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity: General
• Subject: GATT ; Uruguay Round ; trade liberalization ; growth ; capital goods ; intermediate goods ; developing countries

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Estevadeordal, Antoni ; Taylor, Alan M.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
• (where): Washington, DC
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/115370
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET