The Growth and Poverty Impacts of Trade Liberalization in Senegal

Abstract

Most empirical studies find relatively small welfare and poverty impacts of trade liberalization, mainly as a result of the static framework generally used, in which welfare gains and poverty impacts result solely from a short term reallocation of resources. Using Senegal as a case study, we illustrate the results of integrating the growth and productivity gain effects of trade liberalization with the resulting long-run impacts on welfare and poverty. We show that the distributional impacts between poor and non-poor depend upon the specific nature of the trade liberalization policies adopted; and the characteristics of the economy in which it occurs. In the Senegalese case, the predicted principal beneficiaries of trade liberalization are urban and higher skill workers.