This paper uses a simple model to analyze the forces that determine the size of the public sector and the quality of workers employed in that sector. Workers are heterogeneous, and the public sector chooses an employment strategy that maximizes a social welfare function U(s, Y) that depends on...

This paper argues that the development of human capital in the public sector should be an important ingredient in any proposed set of “second-generation” reforms for Africa. In the post-colonial era the quality of governance has seriously declined, and the stock of human capital in the...

Increasing public debt vulnerabilities in low-income developing countries (LIDCs) have heightened the need for fuller and more transparent accounting of public sector debt (PSD). The framework for reporting on public sector debt is sound. But there is room for LIDCs to further improve their...

We study the determinants of employment and wages in the public sector, using a new set of panel data for 34 LDCs and 21 OECD countries from 1972–992, by estimating equations suggested by an efficiency wage model. We find that government employment is positively associated with the relaxation...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that Malta’s economic recovery is gaining traction, owing in large part to cyclical strength and some structural change. A public investment boom, financed largely by grants from the European Union, reignited growth in 2005. A modest recovery...

This paper analyzes the 2005 Article IV Consultation and First Review Under the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for the Union of the Comoros. Economic growth remained lackluster in 2004 owing to a depressed world demand for vanilla and crop, and cattle diseases. Government revenue stagnated, while...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes recent economic developments and policies in Madagascar. Real GDP growth in 2001 was 6 percent, continuing the trend of sustained increase in per capita real GDP that began during the period 1997–2000. The secondary and tertiary sectors were the main...

This Selected Issues paper on Morocco analyzes Morocco’s growth performance over the past thirty-five years with a special focus on the more recent past. The paper presents stylized trends in growth; it first puts the overall growth performance of Morocco in an international perspective,...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix examines banking sector developments in the Republic of Tajikistan. The paper estimates quasi-fiscal activities in the energy sector, and provides an assessment of external sector trade and the need for further trade reform. Developments in the...