Linking Globalization to Poverty in Asia, Latin America and Africa

Despite the enormous potential of globalization in accelerating economic growth through greater integration into the world economy the impact of globalization on poverty reduction has been uneven. Asia has been the major beneficiary of globalization where high growth rates and its labor-intensive pattern contributed to a spectacular reduction in poverty. In contrast, the integration process in Latin America did not contribute to accelerating growth and employment and even led, in some instances, to an informalization of the labor force. In spite of opening up, the failure of sub-Saharan Africa to diversify and undergo structural transformation has led to the persistence of low growth and debilitating poverty. While the impact of globalization on poverty is context-specific, we argue that countries intent on benefitting from globalization need to adopt a pro-active stand in formulating regional and national strategies to enhance the potentially positive effects of globalization and moderate the negative effects.