The WTO and the Poorest Countries: The Stark Choices

Arvind Subramanian, a Division Chief in the Africa Department of the International Monetary Fund, and Aaditya Mattoo of the World Bank presented "The WTO and the Poorest Countries: The Stark Choices," analyzing the ways in which the World Trade Organization can accommodate the interests of small and poor countries, coauthored with Aaditya Mattoo of the World Bank.

Abstract: The authors argue that small and poor countries have little to offer their trading partners by way of market access concessions. Also, their interests are only imperfectly aligned with the broader liberalization agenda of the multilateral trading system. The WTO faces two stark options to accommodate the interests of these countries. These are providing small and poor countries with positive compensation or relieving them of obligations that they see as impositions.