Abstract

BUITRAGO R., RICARDO E.. COMMERCIAL REFORMS (OPENING) IN LATIN AMERICA: REVIEWING ITS IMPACTS ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. Rev.fac.cienc.econ. [online]. 2009, vol.17, n.2, pp.119-131. ISSN 0121-6805.

Economic liberalization programs have a lot of common characteristics around the world, but they do not necessarily have the same consequences. The differences in their effects reflect differences inside the countries along with accidental factors of synchronization and other external events. Commerce liberalization and trade opening are generally seen as key elements for successful strategies of growth and development; however, commercial policy can induce to antagonic forces on income distribution and poverty relief. This document establishes that in Latin-American case, the use of the word opening hides both a wish and an obligation, under Washington Consensus, of the countries to follow a free trade policy where the impact on development and poverty relief are fundamentally different.

Keywords : Openness; Poverty; Latin America; Free Trade; Development.

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