This paper examines data on economic growth and various social indicators and compares the past 25 years (1980-2005) with the prior two decades (1960-1980). The paper finds that the past 25 years in low- and middle-income countries have seen a sharp slowdown in the rate of economic growth, as...

This paper analyses how monetary policy can enhance the effectiveness of volatile aid fl ows. We find that monetary policy is effective in reducing trade balance volatility. We propose the following taxonomy, excluding the case of emergency assistance. Monetary policy should slow down...

This paper examines data on economic growth and various social indicators for 193 countries over the past 50 years, divided into three periods: 1960-1980, 1980-2000, and 2000-2010. The paper finds that after a sharp slowdown in economic growth and in progress on social indicators during the...

Progress towards the MDGs is expected to slow as a consequence of the global economic downturn. This study applies an economy-wide framework to analyze the impact of the crisis on MDG achievement in six Latin American countries. It finds significant setbacks towards the goals and, in the case of...

We examine the phenomenon of real-income stagnation in a large cross-section of countries during the last four decades. Stagnation is defined as negligible or negative growth extending over a number of years. We find that stagnation has affected more than three fifths of countries (103 out of...

This paper examines the macroeconomic and structural constraints to scaling up aid flows to developing countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, including infrastructure, competitiveness and the real exchange rate, labour markets, fiscal constraints, governance, and aid...

This paper examines data on economic growth and various social indicators and compares the past 25 years (1980-2005) with the prior two decades (1960-1980). The paper finds that the past 25 years in low- and middle-income countries have seen a sharp slowdown in the rate of economic growth, as...

This paper compares the experience of poverty reduction in China and India. It finds that more than economic growth per se, what has mattered crucially is the nature of the growth: whether it is associated with growing inequalities that do not allow the benefits of growth to reach the poor;...

The present study analyzes the determinants of improving outcomes in education, health and basic sanitation and the macroeconomic trade-offs caused by scaling up public spending for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), using an integrated modelling approach. At variance with other...

This paper empirically confirms the significance of various links in each of two chains over time: from economic growth (EG) to human development (HD), including EG itself, income distribution, the social expenditure ratio and female education; from HD to EG, including HD itself, along with the...