Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. SCALING UP AID AND THE ROLE OF THE IMF -- III. WHY WAGE BILL CEILINGS? -- IV. WAGE BILL CONDITIONALITY IN PRACTICE -- V. DO WAGE BILL CEILINGS ACCOMMODATE DONOR-FINANCED WAGE SPENDING IN PRIORITY SECTORS? -- VI. IMPROVING WAGE BILL CONDITIONALITY --...

This paper assesses the macroeconomic implications of scaling up aid for Benin in line with the Gleneagles commitment to double aid to poor countries over the next three years to reach 85 per capita by 2010 and keep it at that level thereafter. The analysis suggests that the additional aid...

This paper estimates factors affecting demand for Fund financing by Low-Income Countries (LICs) in response to policy and exogenous shocks. Various economic variables including reserve coverage, current account balance to GDP, real GDP growth, macroeconomic stability, and terms of trade shocks...

This paper explores the catalytic impact of IMF lending to Low-Income Countries on Official Development Assistance (ODA) during 1990-2019. It disentangles the effect on the amounts of ODA on countries’ participation in IMF programs (“extensive margin”) and the size of the IMF-supported...

This paper uses a partial equilibrium framework to evaluate the relative efficiency, distributional and revenue implications of rice tariffs and targeted transfers in Madagascar, especially in the context of identifying their respective roles for poverty alleviation. Although there are likely to...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. THE CHALLENGE OF FORMULATING AN MDG SCENARIO -- III. THE FIRST-GENERATION MDG SCENARIO FOR ETHIOPIA -- IV. A "SECOND-GENERATION" MDG SCENARIO FOR ETHIOPIA -- V. REMAINING CHALLENGES -- References.

This paper analyses economic implications and the transmission mechanisms of different options for creating and using fiscal space. For creating fiscal space, we consider prioritizing expenditures, raising revenue, and scaled-up aid. Fiscal space is used for increasing health and education...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. A BENCHMARK: PRINCIPLES OF DECENTRALIZATION REFORM -- III. UGANDA'S DECENTRALIZATION PROCESS: THE INSTITUTIONS -- IV. SPECIFIC OUTCOMES IN SERVICE DELIVERY -- V. FINAL REMARKS -- References.

This paper evaluates a microsimulation technique by comparing the simulated outcome of a program with its actual effect. The ex ante evaluation is carried out for a conditional cash transfer program, where poor households were given money if the children attended school. A model of occupational...

Over the past decades, workers' remittances have grown to become one of the largest sources of financial flows to developing countries, often dwarfing other widely-studied sources such as private capital and official aid flows. While it is undeniable that remittances have poverty-alleviating and...