In this paper we estimate the early effect of the European Monetary Union (EMU) on trade. We use a panel data set that includes the most recent information on bilateral trade for 22 developed countries from 1992 through 2002. During this period 12 European countries formally entered into a...

This paper studies the effect of government-backed partial credit guarantees on firms' performance. These guarantees are automatically granted to firms without enough collateral in order to lift their credit constraints. We put together a panel, covering the period 1997-2007, that combines data...

This document is a synthesis of the region's most pertinent top priorities, of achievements undergone during recent years, and of the challenges and opportunities the region will face in the near future.Abstract: Los países pertenecientes a la región andina han realizado, durante los últimos...

Using firm level data on 70,000 enterprises in 107 countries, this paper finds important effects of access to finance, business regulations, corruption, and to a lesser extent, infrastructure bottlenecks in explaining patterns of job creation at the firm level. The paper focuses on how the...

El Perú experimentó entre 1990 y 1995 uno de los procesos de estabilización, liberalización, desregulación y privatización más ambiciosos de la región, en el marco de un contexto de "extraordinary politics", donde las capacidades de veto de diversos actores políticos tradicionales,...

The paper is concerned with the high protection cum high growth experience in Brazil until the second half of the 1980s and its crisis. The paper is structured in four sections. The first section is a summary of the arguments presented in the following three sections of the paper. Section II...

A casual observer would be forgiven for concluding that these are both the best and the worst of times for eliminating barriers to international trade and investment. On the plus side, developed countries are firmly committed to the trade liberalization agenda.Abstract: A un observador fortuito...

This paper presents a conceptual framework for explaining Credit Unions (CUs) loan delinquency and profitability in developing countries. It also offers an empirical estimation for a unique sample of CUs in Latin America.

This paper was developed for the Regional Policy Dialogue on Trade and Integration Network in August of 2002. This paper is an in-depth discussion of how agriculture occupied a sideline position during the negotiations for the formation of the FTAA and WTO. Main topics in regards to the...

The benefits of the FTAA to Latin American countries will materialize through two channels: improved access to the region's markets, and enhanced growth prospects through the strengthening of basic economic institutions. Furthermore, the importance of these negotiations is heightened by the fact...