We identify structural breaks in economic growth in 140 countries and use these to define “growth spells”: periods of high growth preceded by an upbreak and ending either with a downbreak or with the end of the sample. Growth spells tend to be shorter in African and Latin American countries...

With two very large mining projects expected to reach full production this decade, Mongolia is entering a commodity boom. History teaches us that commodity revenues offer unique opportunities for development but can also depress long-term economic prospects by increasing macroeconomic...

Using industry-level data, this paper shows that the European transition region benefited much more strongly from financial integration in terms of economic growth than other developing countries in the years preceding the current crisis. We analyse several factors that may explain this finding:...

This paper provides a survey of the theoretical and empirical literature on the dollarisation of corporate and household liabilities; presents evidence on the causes of FX lending specifically in transition economies; and proposes a set of criteria to help decide on the right policy response...