Global Economic Governance Through the Lens of Inequality and Sustainable Development

The report details a workshop on global economic governance and its impact on income inequality. It examines four key areas: market access, where duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) access for least developed countries (LDCs) is often undermined by domestic subsidies in rich nations; e-commerce, where data localization and source code bans are debated to protect policy space; industrial policy, which faces a trend of shrinking policy space due to WTO and regional trade agreement restrictions; and competition policy, which struggles with the market power of tech giants and a lack of international coordination. The workshop concludes that these areas are deeply interlinked and require a systemic approach to governance to support sustainable development and reduce inequality.

• Market access improvements for least developed countries (LDCs) are often insufficient to increase their global export share because domestic support in advanced economies creates barriers. For example, the 'Cotton-4' countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali) face income limitations due to massive domestic support in rich countries and emerging economies like China, rather than market access restrictions.
• The proliferation of regional trade agreements and the use of duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) market access can obscure critical issues, such as 'preference erosion' for LDCs and the existence of high 'tariff peaks' on the specific goods LDCs are best positioned to export.
• In the digital economy, developing countries face potential 'lock-in' effects from new trade rules. Key concerns include the restriction of cross-border data flows, bans on local data storage, and bans on the transfer of source code and algorithms, which limit a government's ability to regulate in the public interest or monitor foreign companies.
• The moratorium on electronic transmissions may cause significant revenue losses for developing economies. A 2019 UNCTAD paper estimated a potential USD 5.1 billion loss in government revenue for these economies if the moratorium continues.
• There is a clear trend in global rule-making toward reducing the 'policy space' available for industrial development. WTO agreements (such as TRIMs, TRIPs, and SCM) and regional trade agreements increasingly ban joint venture requirements and technology transfer requirements.
• Competition policy is increasingly challenged by the extreme market concentration of tech giants. National-level action is deemed insufficient due to the nature of the digital economy, leading to proposals for a 'World Competition Forum' to facilitate cross-border cooperation.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2019). Global Economic Governance Through the Lens of Inequality and Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/global-economic-governance-meeting-report-sept-2019.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Global Economic Governance Through the Lens of Inequality and Sustainable Development. 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/global-economic-governance-meeting-report-sept-2019.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Global Economic Governance Through the Lens of Inequality and Sustainable Development |date=30 September 2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/global-economic-governance-meeting-report-sept-2019.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2019global, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Global Economic Governance Through the Lens of Inequality and Sustainable Development}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/global-economic-governance-meeting-report-sept-2019.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }