This paper examines the extent to which conclusions of cross-country studies of private savings are robust to allowing for the possible heterogeneity of savings behavior across countries and the inclusion of dynamics. It shows that neglecting heterogeneity and dynamics can lead to misleading...

Anecdotal evidence relates corruption with high levels of military spending. This paper tests empirically whether such a relationship exists. The empirical analysis is based on data from four different sources for up to 120 countries in the period 1985–98. The association between military...

Rodriguez and Rodrik (2000) argue that the relation between openness and growth is still an open question. One of the main problems in the assessment of the effect is the endogeneity of the relation. In order to address this issue, this paper applies the identification through heteroskedasticity...

Developing countries fortunate enough to experience capital inflows haveseen rising levels of investment and enhanced economic growth. Capitalinflows have a negative side, however, in that they tend to appreciatethe domestic currency, making exports less competitive, and to encourageinflation....

Mexico’s growth process in trend and cyclical factors, with implications for policy decisions, is discussed. Mexico’s trade integration has been important for growth. But the high export growth experienced has been followed by a more muted performance. Reforms to improve productivity are...

This Selected Issues paper is a wide-ranging survey of the conditions for, and obstacles to, the growth in Mexico. It frames the issue of Mexico’s growth record, and presents the paper’s prior assumptions and approach. It highlights the main observations and conclusions emerging from the...

This Selected Issues paper assesses the potential financial vulnerabilities of the corporate sector in Mexico. It provides an overview of salient features of the Mexican corporate sector. The paper also presents the formal stress tests that estimate the potential effects of some macroeconomic...

This Selected Issues paper considers the “informal sector” in Mexico. In Mexico and many other countries, the informal sector represents a large share of total employment. The paper reviews the literature on informality, with special focus on findings for Mexico, and develops a theoretical...

This paper focuses on the Mexican economy, its output fluctuations, and analyzes the country's external competitiveness in the context of medium-term external current account sustainability. The study also presents different measures of the fiscal deficit, including the traditional budget...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes reserve adequacy in Mexico. Reserve adequacy has been of renewed interest, as the authorities have introduced a new rules-based mechanism of U.S. dollar sales to reduce the rate of reserve accumulation. The paper examines the recent experience with Mexico’s...