The authors note that trade liberalisation may reduce the capacity (and choice of instruments) for developing-country governments to conduct redistribution programmes, and thus help smooth the short- and medium-term impacts of trade reforms. Based on a 2010 joint study by the Commonwealth Secretariat and Overseas Development Institute, some 15-29 per cent of the total estimated loss of developing-country exports due to preference erosion would come from SVEs. For certain countries, such as St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominica, and Sao Tome and Principe, the loss of exports due to preference erosion could be as high as 29—60 per cent of their merchandise exports (see Cali et al.