In this paper I discuss the effectiveness of foreign aid from a historical perspective. I show that foreign aid is a relatively new concept in economics, and I emphasize the role of exchange rate policies in the foreign aid controversies of the 1970s through 1990s. I show that in the early 1980s...

This paper deals with the role of trade regimes in determining economic performance and growth in the developing countries. The policy and empirical literatures on trade orientation and economic growth are critically reviewed; it is argued that a key limitation of these works has been the...

In this paper I analyze the evolution of economic and social conditions in Latin America from the 1950s through the 1980s, when deep external crises erupted in country after country. The point of departure of our story is the political awakening of the region in the late 1950s and early 1960s...

I use data on 180 sovereign defaults to analyze what determines the recovery rate after a debt restructuring process. Why do creditors recover, in some cases, more than 90%, while in other cases they recover less than 10%? I find support for the Grossman and Van Huyk model of “excusable...

In this paper I use a cross country data set to analyze the relationship between trade orientation, trade distortions and growth. I first develop a simple endogenous growth model that emphasizes the process of technological absorption in small developing countries. According to this model...

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically assess, from a welfare perspective, the desirability of uniform import tariffs. Since the eruption of the debt crisis, many proposals for structural reforms in the developing countries have contemplated a trade liberalization process that would...

In this paper a model that analyzes the interaction between changes in commodity export prices, money creation, inflation, and the real exchange rate in a developing country is developed. The model is then tested using data for Colombia. A number of experts have argued that the fluctuations of...

This paper investigates to what extent the international financial community has taken into account the risk characteristics of borrowing less developed countries when granting loans. Specifically, this study analyzes the determinants of the spread between the interest rate charged to a...

This paper uses historical data from the Bretton Woods era to analyze the effectiveness of devaluation-based adjustment programs in the developing countries. Forty eight major devaluations undertaken between 1954 and 1971 are investigated in detail in an effort to understand the circumstances...