There are three main approaches to analyzing the effects of aid money and aid-supported reform: before-and-after comparison; control group (simple and modified) studies; and modeling. All three approaches...
The current and potential benefits of the East-West gas trade are enormous for all participants. Realizing those benefits requires significant upfront investments. But the new, more complex structure of...
The authors show that the potential benefit to a host country of forward markets or of foreign exchange guarantees depend on the investor's country of origin and on specific characteristics of investment...
The author, using a neoclassical Solow model, estimates an economy's rate of convergence to its own steady state. Using panel date for a sample of 98 countries, the author applies Chamberlain's (1984)...
The literature on the theory of the firm is rich in theoretical and practical insights. The key messages in this overview are the following: (a) the modern theory of the firm provides many insights into...
The authors explore options for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) governments to make competition law enforcement more sensitive to trade and investment policy, thereby supporting liberal trade policy...
Recent debate about how timber prices affect deforestation has focused mainly on how log export bans (imposed in many developing countries to protect domestic timber processing) affect deforestation. One...
The widely held view that larger families tend to be poorer in developing countries has influenced research and policies. But the basis for this "stylized fact" is questionable, the authors argue. Widely...
Drawing on the game theory concepts, the authors discuss why countries form themselves into trading blocs and what the relations between these blocs are likely to be. They identify three types of regimes:...
The financial sector should be active in enterprise restructuring in the transitional economies, and should help channel resources to the private sector. What will best help the sector achieve these tasks:...
One rationale for debt reduction operations under the Brady Plan has been, by alleviating the debt overhang, to improve investment efficiency. Brady-type debt and debt-service reduction (within a strong...
North (1984) argues that it is not the cost of transport but the cost of transactions that prevents economies from realizing well-being - and that institutions matter because they affect the costs of transactions...
Public enterprise reform is an important part of policy strategies to accelerate economic growth in many countries. The authors identify two distinct but complementary approaches to public enterprise reform...
The outlook for economic development for an important group of middle-income countries has again been buoyed by substantial private capital inflows in the 1990s. As in the 1970s, this development has been...
The authors investigate capital structures in a sample of the largest publicly traded firms in ten developing countries - Brazil, India, Jordan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand...
Charging for social marginal costs is efficient regardless of price elasticities, but the importance of getting prices "right" is greater the more manageable, or elastic, the demand. In efficient pollution...
On January 12, 1994, the CFA franc - the currency of the thirteen African states of the CFA Franc Zone - was devalued 50 percent. The event had been expected for some time, but the magnitude and one-shot...
The authors present new estimates of long-term total factor productivity (TFP) growth for 83 industrial and developing countries for 1960-87. These estimates are based on new data developed for the research...
Widespread private capital inflows to middle-income countries have surged over the past three years. At the same time, Brady-type debt reduction operations and domestic policy reform took place, indicators...
Certain themes and findings emerge from the authors analysis of key relationships between research and development (R&D) and other factors. Among them: (1) R&D capital and the structure of production:...