Conventional wisdom has held that trade liberalization leads to increased economic growth, but this idea is often misleading. Liberalization has frequently failed to trigger economic growth when implemented in contexts without adequate institutional foundations. However, historical experience can provide some insight into when and how trade liberalization can best benefit developing countries, and when it is inadvisable altogether. IPD’s Trade Task Force lays out the crucial issues in trade policy for developing countries in a non-partisan, policy-relevant manner. The Task Force examines the successes and failures of trade liberalization in order to develop new knowledge and policy responses to this complex issue.

Migration is one of the most hotly debated topics in today’s globalized world. Whereas the movement of technology and capital has become increasingly more open, the movement of people across countries has not enjoyed such freedom. On the contrary, it is tightly controlled and often mismanaged. The effects of migration are multiple and sometimes opposing. Despite the complex effects of migration, few studies have analyzed this phenomenon comprehensively. Overall, the overlapping benefits and costs of migration remain an understudied and intensely disputed topic. IPD’s Migration Task Force gathers scholars from different disciplines, research interests and nationalities, to close this gap in research and policy.

The discovery of oil or other valuable resources has been associated with devastating political conflict and economic setbacks, particularly in the poorest countries where pre-existing institutions for transparency and accountability are often the weakest. Only a few countries have managed resource revenues in a way that promotes sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation. IPD’s Resource Curse Task Force aims to create guidance for policymakers, policy analysts and activists concerned with the management of extractive industries in developing countries.