07 - Young Scientists Summer Program Lecture - 23 July 2007

Machiko Nissanke

Pro-poor Globalization:
An Elusive Concept or Realistic Perspective?

Listen [MP3 1:35:59] Slides [PDF]

Lecture Summary

Alongside the issue of climate change, globalization and poverty epitomize two of the most pressing international development issues today. Despite the enormous potential of globalization in accelerating economic growth and development through greater integration, the spread and transfer of technology, and the transmission of knowledge, its impact on poverty reduction has been uneven and even marginal; the depth of poverty in many parts of the developing world remains unacceptably high.

A question is often raised as to whether the actual distribution of gains is fair and, in particular, whether they could actually be hurt by it under some, or many, circumstances. The fear that the poor have been bypassed, or actually hurt, by globalization is highlighted by the recent empirical evidences, which point towards a continuing high inequality in the world income and asset distribution and the uneven progress on poverty reduction worldwide. Indeed, globalization has created winners and losers at numerous levels throughout the modern history. The losers include many of those who have actively participated in the process of globalization.

The globalization–poverty relationship is complex and heterogeneous, involving multifaceted channels. Globalization–poverty relationships are nonlinear in many aspects, with several discernable thresholds effects. Indeed, each subset of links embedded in the globalization (openness) – growth – income distribution – poverty nexus can be contentious and controversial. Further, besides the “growth” effects of globalization on poverty (i.e., the effects of globalization on poverty filtered through economic growth), globalization/integration directly create winners and losers through other channels, affecting both vertical and horizontal inequalities. Because these multifaceted channels interact dynamically over space and time, the net effects of globalization on the poor can only be judged on the basis of “context-specific” empirical studies.

Based partly on the UNU/WIDER project on “The Impact of Globalisation on the World’s Poor,” Professor Nissanke discusses various channels and transmission mechanisms through which the process of globalization affects different aspects of poverty in the developing world. She presents economic arguments for adopting a strategy of making globalization pro-poor and what may constitute a policy framework for pro-poor globalization.

Speaker Biography

Machiko Nissanke is Professor of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, where she has taught graduate courses in international economics and financial economics since 1993. She studied economics at Birkbeck College and received MSc and PhD degrees in Economics from University of London. She previously worked at Birkbeck College, University College London (UCL), and University of Oxford. She was Research Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford (1985-1990) and Overseas Development Institute, London (1992-1995) as well as Senior Associate Member of St Antony's College, Oxford (1985-1992).

Her research interests include finance and development, international economics (trade and finance), macroeconomic adjustments in developing and transitional economies, institutional economics, comparative economic development in Asia and Africa, North–South and South–South economic relations.

She has published several authored and edited books, including: Globalisation and Poor in Asia: Can Shared Growth be Sustained? (edited with Erik Thorbecke), forthcoming 2007; The Impact of Globalisation on the World's Poor (edited with Erik Thorbecke), Palgrave/Macmillan, 2006; Comparative Development Experiences in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia (with Ernesr Aryeetey), Ashgate, 2003; and Asia and Africa in a Global Economy, UNU Press, 2003. Her articles have appeared in many international academic journals, including American Economic Review, World Development, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Eastern Economic Journal, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, World Bank Economic Review, Journal of African Economies, African Development Review, as well as in numerous edited books, conference volumes, and reports by the World Bank and UN Institutions and Agencies.

Professor Nissanke has served as consultant/advisor to various international organizations (UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNDP, UNU, World Bank, African Development Bank, OAU, EU/EEC, African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and Japanese government agencies (MITI, MOFA, JBIC). She currently acts as co-director, with Professor Erik Thorbecke of Cornell University, for a UNU/WIDER project on “The Impact of Globalisation on the World's Poor.” She directs research projects in the fields of international trade and finance as part of the international research programs, established at the World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland and founded by the Swiss National Foundation. She also co-directs the international research program on Aid Effectiveness to Infrastructure in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, founded by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

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Last updated: 03 Apr 2009