This book examines the effectiveness of trade and non-trade policies to combat the menace of child labour. Although it has decreased on the global scale in recent years, child labour still remains high, particularly in the developing countries. Keeping in mind the estimated extent of child labour in different regions around the globe, the book offers a detailed critical review of both theoretical and empirical literature on the topic as well as the policies to reduce the incidence of child labour. It also develops a general equilibrium model to demonstrate the possible effects of growth-promoting, non-trade policies, as opposed to direct trade policies, on child labour employment mitigation. The book argues that of the non-trade policies, the introduction of compulsory education appears to be an effective instrument for curtailing the child labour problem when families receive targeted subsidies for sending their children to school. It also shows that appropriately designed and targeted education subsidies can reduce the incidence of child labour and that social protection measures, such as subsidies on school enrolment, also tend to have a positive impact. The book not only opens up research topics for academicians but is also a valuable resource for policy makers.

This book examines the effectiveness of trade and non-trade policies to combat the menace of child labour. Although it has decreased on the global scale in recent years, child labour still remains high, particularly in the developing countries. Keeping in mind the estimated extent of child labour in different regions around the globe, the book offers a detailed critical review of both theoretical and empirical literature on the topic as well as the policies to reduce the incidence of child labour. It also develops a general equilibrium model to demonstrate the possible effects of growth-promoting, non-trade policies, as opposed to direct trade policies, on child labour employment mitigation. The book argues that of the non-trade policies, the introduction of compulsory education appears to be an effective instrument for curtailing the child labour problem when families receive targeted subsidies for sending their children to school. It also shows that appropriately designed and targeted education subsidies can reduce the incidence of child labour and that social protection measures, such as subsidies on school enrolment, also tend to have a positive impact. The book not only opens up research topics for academicians but is also a valuable resource for policy makers.

The research work is based on a specific-factor general equilibrium framework to study the effectiveness of different trade and non-trade policies on child labour incidence and their impacts on national welfare, trade balance. Chapter 2 of the study reviews the literature on child labour . In chapter 3 of the dissertation, we have built a two sector general equilibrium model to investigate the effect of two alternative trade restrictive policies on child labour market. In chapter 4, we have extended the model into a three sector general equilibrium framework and have investigated the effect of both trade and non-trade policies. Non-trade policy is captured in terms of economic expansion. In chapter 5, we have considered a competitive general equilibrium model of a small open, less developed economy suffering from both (i) adult unemployment and (ii) child labour problem. We have tried to investigate the effects of imposition of three alternative trade restrictive policies. In chapter 6 our objective has been to examine the role of education subsidy in curtailing the incidence of child labour supply. In chapter 7, we summarise the main conclusions of our study.