The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Export Supply and Poverty in Guyana: Evidence From Cointegration Analysis

Abstract

Using the cointegration and error correction methodologies, this article studies the impact of trade liberalization on the supply of exports and poverty in Guyana from the early 1980s to the mid-2010s. From the empirical results of this study, two important points emerge. The first point is that, for Guyana, trade liberalization has resulted in the expansion of the country’s supply of exports and the reduction in its poverty rate. The second point is that the impact of trade liberalization on export supply and poverty has been quite small. In addition, this study finds that the real effective exchange rate and the growth of the economy along with the growth of the agricultural sector were important drivers for expanding the country’s supply of exports and reducing its poverty rate over the period covered in this study.