How Much Do Trade Barriers Affect the Income Gap between Countries?

The income gap between rich countries and poor countries closes by 50 percent when barriers to trade are removed. This is a key finding of a paper by Vice President and Deputy Director of Research B. Ravikumar and his co-authors. In this video, Ravikumar discusses his work and why trade barriers play such a significant role.

Additional Resources

• Working Paper: Capital Goods Trade and Economic Development
• Timely Topics: Economic Development: Reducing Trade Barriers to Close the Gap between Rich and Poor Countries
• On the Economy: How to Become an Industrialized Nation