This paper examines Honduras’s 2005 Article IV Consultation and Second Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. In the period 1960–2000, output growth in Honduras ranked among the lowest in the region. During the 1990s, when growth recovered in the rest of Central...

This Selected Issues paper assesses the fiscal risk impact of various events in Tonga and describes the challenges implied for fiscal management. The paper discusses that the Tongan government has made various efforts to limit the budgetary implications of the recent economic and political...

This 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that Tonga’s economy has shown resilience in the aftermath of the November 2006 riots and is now on a path to recovery. The key factor underpinning this resilience has been private investment. Donor-supported government reconstruction loans are...

The Great Recession pushed Japan’s unemployment rate to historic highs, but the increase has been small by international standards and small relative to the large output shock. This paper explores Japan’s cyclical labor market response to the global financial crisis. Our findings suggest...

Labor markets around the world have become increasingly integrated over the last two decades, with the entry of China, India and the former Eastern bloc into the world trading system, the removal of restrictions on trade and capital flows, and rapid technological progress. At the same time, the...

There is growing concern in Europe over the impact of globalization on high and evenly shared living standards. These concerns have often surfaced in response to falling labor income shares in aggregate national income data. However, these data may tell little about the underlying distribution...

This Occasional Paper provides an overview of the main challenges facing Hong Kong SAR as it continues to become more closely integrated with the mainland of China. Section I provides an overview of recent macroeconomic developments and the main policy issues in Hong Kong SAR. Section II...