Working Groups on Development
and Environment in the Americas
The Working Group on Development and Environment in the Americas, founded in 2004, brings together researchers from several countries in the Americas who have carried out empirical studies of the social and environmental impacts of economic liberalization. The goal of the Working Group Project is to contribute empirical research and policy analysis to the ongoing policy debates on national economic development strategies and international trade. The project also brings more prominently into U.S. policy debates the rich body of research carried out by Latin American experts, as well as their informed perspectives on trade and development policies. Hosted by Tufts' Global Development and Environment Institute, the Working Group Project has four initiatives.
Globalization and the Environment: The first Working Group project focused on the environmental impacts of trade liberalization. The group held its inaugural meeting in Brasilia, March 29-30, 2004, and produced the policy report, Globalization and the Environment: Lessons from the Americas, which also appeared in Spanish. Based on a detailed set of case studies, which were collected into a book in Spanish of the same name, the report makes clear that economic liberalization in the Americas has a poor record in promoting economic growth and environmental protection. The Working Group calls for increased attention to environmental safeguards and capacity-building in the liberalization process.
Globalization and Foreign Investment: Foreign investment is perhaps the most sought-after prize in trade negotiations, yet evidence suggests that trade agreements do not always bring foreign capital, and that foreign investment does not always spur economic development nor environmental improvements. The Working Group on investment brings together prominent economists from across the hemisphere who, based on empirical research on the impacts of 1980s and 1990s reforms, examine the policies needed to harness foreign investment for sustainable development.
Globalization and Agriculture: Liberalization of agriculture in the Americas is presented as an unprecedented opportunity for Latin American countries to capitalize on their supposed comparative advantages in the global economy. Experience with liberalization to date, however, has shown that the promise of economic opening in agriculture is often overstated, while the perils are very real. The Working Group will address both the promise and the perils, with case studies on the promise of the soybean boom in South America, and others on the perils to small farmers of agricultural trade liberalization.
Intellectual Property and Regional Integration: This collaborative study addresses the relationship between expanded and strengthened Intellectual Property rights and national development strategies. New obligations for granting and protecting patents are included in the WTO and also bilateral and regional trade agreements that many Latin American and Caribbean countries have signed with the US. Working Group experts assess how developing countries can reconcile the demands for increased intellectual property protection with their obligations to protect public health and promote national economic development.
This web page is hosted by the Global Development and Environment
Institute (GDAE) at Tufts University in the United States, one of the
sponsors of the Working Group.
See GDAE
Web Site
See
GDAE's Globalization and Sustainable Development Program