Explore the vast range of titles available.

Empirical analysis does not suggest that reserves are \"too high\" in the majority of Asian countries, though China may be a special case. Much of the reserve increase in Asia can be explained by an optimal insurance model under which reserves provide a steady source of liquidity to cushion the impact of a sudden stop in capital inflows on output and consumption. Moreover, the benefits of reserves in terms of reduced spreads on privately held external debt further explains the observed growth in reserves since 1997-98. Using threshold estimation techniques, the paper shows that most of Asia can still benefit from higher reserves in terms of reduced borrowing costs.

This paper creates the first dataset of bilateral remittance flows for a limited set of developing countries and estimates a gravity model for workers' remittances. We find that most of the variation in bilateral remittance flows can be explained by a few gravity variables. The evidence on the motives to remit is mixed, but altruism may be less of a factor than commonly believed. Most strikingly, remittances do not seem to increase in the wake of a natural disaster and appear aligned with the business cycle in the home country, suggesting that remittances may not play a major role in limiting vulnerability to shocks. To encourage remittances and maximize their economic impact, policies should be directed at reducing transaction costs, promoting financial sector development, and improving the business climate.

The 2008 global financial crisis highlighted the significant impact bank bailouts, state-owned enterprise recapitalizations, and other so-called contingent liability realizations can have on public finances. In this paper, we construct a novel dataset of contingent liability realizations in advanced and emerging market economies for the period 1990–2014. We find that when they materialize, contingent liabilities are a major source of fiscal distress. The average gross government payout related to a contingent liability realization is 6% of GDP, but gross payouts can be as high as 40% of GDP for major financial sector bailouts. Contingent liability realizations from different sources are correlated among each other and tend to occur during periods of weak growth and economic crisis, accentuating pressure on public finances during already difficult times. We find that they accounted for as much as one-third of the debt increases after the financial crisis. Indicative evidence suggests that countries with stronger governance indicators and, in particular, more comprehensive coverage of fiscal accounts, suffer more moderate contingent liability realizations. Improved oversight and transparency thus seems to go some way in reducing public financial risks.

Do highly indebted countries suffer from a debt overhang? Can debt relief foster their growth rates? To answer these important questions, this article looks at how the debt-growth relation varies with indebtedness levels, as well as with the quality of policies and institutions, in a panel of developing countries. The main findings are that, in countries with good policies and institutions, there is evidence of debt overhang when the net present value of debt rises above 20-25 percent of GDP; however, debt becomes irrelevant above 70-80 percent. In countries with bad policies and institutions, thresholds appear to be lower, but the evidence of debt overhang is weaker and we cannot rule out that debt is always irrelevant. Indeed, in such countries, as well as in countries with high indebtedness levels, investment does not depend on debt levels. The analysis suggests that not all countries are likely to profit from debt relief, and thus that a one-size-fits-all debt relief approach might not be the most appropriate one. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Chapter 1 explores the sources of change in educational wage inequality in the U.S. between 1965–1999. I present new empirical estimates of the impact of factor nonneutral technological change and capital-skill complementarity on the demand for college-educated workers, based on a translog production model with four (and five) factors and separate trends for the factor biases of technical change. I show that skilled labor-using innovations and the acceleration in the decline of unskilled labor efficiency constitute the main forces behind increased wage inequality. On the other hand, capital-skill complementarity is restricted to a very small fraction of equipment capital, information technology. Furthermore, this complementarity effect is falling over time and it can only account for a small fraction of increased wage inequality after 1980. Chapter 2 investigates the factor bias of technical change at the U.S. industry level, and relates this bias with industry investments in information technology and their exposure to international trade. Using industry data for the U.S. between 1965–2000, this chapter finds that the absolute efficiency of unskilled workers has declined within the largest industries in the economy. Simultaneously, technical change has increased the efficiency of skilled labor within virtually all industries. Results also show that IT investments are associated with both faster increases in the efficiency of skilled labor, and faster declines in the efficiency of unskilled labor. Chapter 3 examines how the design of cash transfer schemes influences household welfare outcomes with particular reference to the impact of transfers on schooling, health, food security, and investment. This is accomplished by examining two innovative cash transfer schemes initiated by the Mexican government in the last decade: PROGRESA, which is a national anti-poverty scheme directed at chronic rural poverty, and PROCAMPO, which is a scheme designed to compensate farmers for the negative price effects of NAFTA. The results suggest that conditionality may have little effect in terns of short-term welfare outcomes, but do influence both longer-term (human capital) and medium term (productive) investment.

Empirical analysis does not suggest that reserves are \"\"too high\"\" in the majority of Asian countries, though China may be a special case. Much of the reserve increase in Asia can be explained by an optimal insurance model under which reserves provide a steady source of liquidity to cushion the impact of a sudden stop in capital inflows on output and consumption. Moreover, the benefits of reserves in terms of reduced spreads on privately held external debt further explains the observed growth in reserves since 1997-98. Using threshold estimation techniques, the paper shows that most of Asia can still benefit from higher reserves in terms of reduced borrowing costs

Portugal: Selected Issues.

Empirical analysis does not suggest that reserves are \"\"too high\"\" in the majority of Asian countries, though China may be a special case. Much of the reserve increase in Asia can be explained by an optimal insurance model under which reserves provide a steady source of liquidity to cushion the impact of a sudden stop in capital inflows on output and consumption. Moreover, the benefits of reserves in terms of reduced spreads on privately held external debt further explains the observed growth in reserves since 1997-98. Using threshold estimation techniques, the paper shows that most of Asia ca

This paper creates the first dataset of bilateral remittance flows for a limited set of developing countries and estimates a gravity model for workers'' remittances. We find that most of the variation in bilateral remittance flows can be explained by a few gravity variables. The evidence on the motives to remit is mixed, but altruism may be less of a factor than commonly believed. Most strikingly, remittances do not seem to increase in the wake of a natural disaster and appear aligned with the business cycle in the home country, suggesting that remittances may not play a major role in limiting vulnerability to shocks. To encourage remittances and maximize their economic impact, policies should be directed at reducing transaction costs, promoting financial sector development, and improving the business climate