Abstract
This chapter presents snapshots of the current state of development, aid, trade, and investment in the Global South. Despite the Global South’s export capacity and wealth of raw materials, only five countries in the Global South (countries with low or medium levels of human development) posted a trade surplus in 2015. A small proportion (about a quarter) of the revenue received from the Global South returns to it. This aid is directed at humanitarian, economic and political purposes, and is not necessarily directed at countries with the lowest levels of human development. Contrary to what commonly represented in the media, countries undergoing reconstruction are not the major recipients of FDI. FDI is more likely to flow into stable and established countries with a minimum level of human development in place. Less surprisingly, FDI is likely to flow out of countries where there is political instability and conflict.
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van der Merwe, J., Dodd, N. (2019). The Status of Development, Aid, Trade, and Investment in the Global South. In: The Political Economy of Underdevelopment in the Global South. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05096-2_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05096-2_8
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