Financial Liberalization and the Geography of Poverty

Abstract

We investigate the possibility of further channels through which financial liberalization policies might affect poverty and discuss how various factors have produced varying outcomes in different countries. The growth channel is the only one widely accepted in the literature. We suggest that three further channels should be added to the list: the financial crises channel, the access to credit and financial services channel and the income share of labour channel. We discuss how these channels operate differently in different countries. As far as we know, no attempt has been made previously in the literature to go beyond the growth channel.