EUs handelspreferenser som verktyg för fattigdomsminskning

Sammanfattning: Poverty is one of the greatest issues of our time. The majority of countries in the world take part in the fight against this issue. Non-reciprocal trade preferences is commonly given to developing countries by developed countries to enhance the exports of developing countries, and in the long haul contribute to their economic development. The European Union (EU) has granted certain trade preferences to a group of Latin American countries in this purpose. The underlying aim of this thesis is to investigate whether or not trade preferences is a useful tool in the fight against poverty. We approach this issue by empirically assessing if trade preferences lead to increased export flows in the context of beneficiary countries to donor countries. This will then serve as a basis for discussing whether trade preferences can help decrease poverty. The empirical assessment of trade flows is made by using the gravity model with panel data for Latin American countries’ exports to EU 15 countries during the years 1988 - 2012. The empirical assessment cannot find significant results of increased export flows from the beneficiary countries to the donor countries. The thesis is completed by a discussion whether trade preferences could be a useful tool in the attempt to reduce poverty.