One of the greatest dangers to the growth of developing countries is the middle income trap, where crony capitalism creates oligarchies that slow down growth. If the debate during the elections is any pointer, this is a very real concern of the public in India today. To avoid this trap, and to...

A picture about the macroeconomy that is, the world economy and the domestic economy is given. The two recent regulatory measures are given here. [FICCI/IBA Annual Banking Conference].

The financial sector has built capabilities such that, with appropriate policy changes, it can grow tremendously, both domestically and internationally. the report touches upon two reasons for financial sector reform—to include more Indians in the growth process, and to foster growth...

We examine the effects of aid on growth--in cross-sectional and panel data--after correcting for the bias that aid typically goes to poorer countries, or to countries after poor performance. Even after this correction, we find little robust evidence of a positive (or negative) relationship...

Developments in the financial sector have led to an expansion in its ability to spread risks. The increase in the risk bearing capacity of economies, as well as in actual risk taking, has led to a range of financial transactions that hitherto were not possible, and has created much greater...

Why is underdevelopment so persistent? One explanation is that poor countries do not have institutions that can support growth. Because institutions (both good and bad) are persistent, underdevelopment is persistent. An alternative view is that underdevelopment comes from poor education. Neither...

This paper outlines a proposal for a controlled approach to capital account liberalization for economies experiencing large capital inflows. The proposal essentially involves securitizing a portion of capital inflows through closed-end mutual funds that issue shares in domestic currency, use the...

The problems of failed states, including the repeated return to power of former warlords are examined. It is argued that this causes institutions to become weaker and people to get poorer. It is argued that economic power through property holdings or human capital gives people the means to hold...

Why it is so hard to find a robust effect of aid on the long-term growth of poor countries, even those with good policies. A possible offset to the beneficial effects of aid is examined using a methodology that exploits both cross-country and within-country variation.

The authors examine the effects of aid on the growth of manufacturing using a methodology that exploits the variation within countries and across manufacturing sectors and that corrects for possible reverse causality. They find that aid inflows have systematic adverse effects on a...