International trade is important
for the development of a sound market economy. Through international trade, people can buy goods and services that are not produced
in their own countries--or that are produced more efficiently in another country. The money that countries receive from exports helps
determine how much they can afford to spend on imports and how much they can borrow from abroad. Free trade can stimulate a country's
development and economic growth as well as help raise living conditions for all people. Over the past decade a large number of developing
countries and post-communist economies--the so called "transition" countries--have tried to reform and liberalize their trade programs to
allow more free trading among countries.
There still is a great need to help governments, private businesses, and academic institutions develop and put to use sound trade policies.
Explore the links on this web page to learn about global production sharing (sharing different stages of manufacturing of a product between
countries), trade organizations, and the relationship between trade and social and economic development.
Trade & Development Centre
This site produced jointly by the World Bank and World Trade Organization is for anyone interested in
social and economic development and how these are related to trade. Explore this web site by entering the
"Trade & Development Centre" and then using the navigation buttons on the left hand side of the screen.
Also, check out the FAQs under "Guides". The "Issues" section gives overviews of the major trade concerns
of developing countries as well as illustrative case studies. Get involved in an on-line discussion by
visiting the "Forum", and see the "Links" for more.
Trade, Macroeconomic Reforms and the Environment
Visit this web page to learn about a project aimed at analyzing key issues in the current debate on trade and
the environment. For articles on trade and pollution, environmental effects of trade, and more click
here.
International Food Policy Research Institute
This site seeks to strengthen links between agriculture and other sectors of the economy. It examines trade
and other macroeconomic policies -- such as exchange, interest, and wage rates -- to determine their effects
on development and the environment. To find the section on trade, click on the navigation button "Research
Themes" on the left hand side of the screen and then scroll down to Trade and Macroeconomics.
International Migration and Trade
There are about 100 million persons living and often working outside their countries of citizenship, making this "nation of
migrants" equivalent in size to the world's tenth most populous country. This working paper is intended to provide the reader with an
introduction to the issues raised by the linkages between trade and migration.
Social Capital in Economics, Trade and Migration
Find out how the social structures and relationships among people affect economies and trade.
This PovertyNet web page gives a short
overview of how people are influencing economics, trade, migration, and
more.
Commodity Markets and the Developing Countries
Visit this web page to view the annotated tables of contents and read the text of the feature articles from the
current and past issues of Commodity Markets and the Developing Countries. Find out more about
such commodities as fuels, products of agriculture, metals, and minerals, and learn how commodity markets
differ from markets of manufactured goods and services.
Macro and Market Dynamism
Visit this site for data showing countries' involvement in trade, their export structure, policies, inflation,
debt, and more. Click on any of the indicators for its definition and a ranking of the world's countries.
Explore these pages from World
Development Indicators, 1999 and World Development Report, 1999/2000 to find data on international trade for over 140 of the world's countries.
To view these pages you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have it, you may
download it here for free.
Emerging Markets Data Base
This web site might be useful for more advanced students interested in stock markets. The Emerging Market
Data Base has gained recognition as the world's premier source for reliable and comprehensive information
and statistics on stock markets in developing countries. With information collected since 1975, the data base
covers 51 markets, providing regular updates on more than 2,200 stocks.
| Digging Deeper |
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Tackling the Issues
International Trade is closely associated with other issues that in their turn affect trade.
Explore issues like
Private Sector Development,
Corruption,
as well as the others.
Global Integration and the New Trade Agenda
The Global Integration and the New Trade Agenda course is one of the
"Core Courses" provided by the
World Bank Institute
that discusses the pluses and minuses of alternative institutional ways meant to help international
cooperation in the areas of trade and investment. Besides the "Course Information" with further links the
"Useful Trade Information" may be especially useful for researching international trade.
Make sure to check out those links.
International Trade Division
This web site contain a wide range of information on international trade. To learn about the basics of
international--trade agreements, organizations, global production sharing--sharing different stages of
manufacturing of a product between countries, and much more, explore:
- Working Papers
Access this web page for more than 50 chronologically arranged working papers on country participation in
the World Trade Organization, evaluations of regional trade arrangements, trade policy and openness in
developing countries, and much more.
- Trade Expansion Program
Check out this web page to learn about advice and assistance offered to countries interested in reforming
their trade polices and practices. Full reports
are available on Mongolia, Zimbabwe,
and Viet Nam.
