Why should multilateral lending exist in a world where private capital markets are well developed and governments have their own bilateral aid programs? If lending by the World Bank, IMF, and regional development banks has an independent rationale, it must rest on advantages generated by the...

We argue that the disincentive effect of a debt overhang is generally small and consequently that debt reduction does not lead to important efficiency gains on this account. Instead, we develop a framework that highlights the inefficiency created by the liquidity constraint faced by...

This paper raises several cautionary notes regarding high-conditionality lending by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the context of international debt crisis. It is argued that the role for high-conditionality lending is more restricted than generally believed, because...

The paper analyses the role of fiscal policy in the restoration of internal and external macroeconomic equilibrium and in achieving structural adjustment i.e. major changes in the patterns of sectoral and intertemporal resource allocation. The focus is on developing and new industrial countries...

To update a famous old statistic: a political leader in a developing country is almost twice as likely to lose office in the 6 months following a currency crash as otherwise. This difference, which is highly significant statistically, holds regardless whether the devaluation takes place in the...

This paper investigates the output effects of IMF-supported stabilization programs, especially those introduced at the time of a severe balance of payments/currency crisis. Using a panel data set over the 1975-97 period and covering 67 developing and emerging-market economies (with 461 IMF...

When countries attempt to stabilize annual inflation rates that are greater than 40 percent, the domestic stock market appreciates by 24 percent on average. The present value of the long-run benefits to shareholders of reducing high inflation outweighs the present value of the short-run costs....

The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the IMF's role in the developing countries' adjustment process. In particular, the paper tries to answer the following questions: What model or framework does the IMF use to generate its advice, and is that advice eclectic? Is there evidence...

The purpose of this study is to identify conditions under which renewed international. lending will benefit both the developed and the developing countries. Our analysis will evaluate how the presence of terms of trade adjust-rent and distorted credit markets affect the conditions for the...

The search for "growth-oriented adjustment programs" reflects a widespread malaise concerning IMF stabilization programs in countries suffering from external debt crises. A new orthodoxy is emerging from this search, which links recovery in the debtor countries to a shift to "outward-oriented"...