Connecting People to Markets

Book excerpt: This study discusses how best to identify the obstacles that separate people from markets in the context of the global economy. The answer lies in the same dynamic that is shaping global competition, namely, the increasing role of global supply chains in world trade. That naturally leads to the question of how policymakers could best utilize the same tools, particularly those used for making sourcing and investment decisions, employed by globally engaged firms in their own operations to develop an integrated trade and development strategy. What follows is a discussion of how policymakers in developing countries, as well as international financial institutions and development assistance agencies, might use these tools to create such a strategy.