This paper examines the macroeconomic effects of the erosion of trade preferences, with a focus on the export of Caribbean bananas to Europe. Estimates are made of the magnitude of implicit assistance provided over a period of three decades to eastern Caribbean countries through banana trade...

This paper looks at the empirical record whether big infrastructure and public capital drives have succeeded in accelerating economic growth in low-income countries. It looks at big long-lasting drives in public capital spending, as these were arguably clear and exogenous policy decisions. On...

We develop a micro-founded general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents to identify pertinent constraints to financial inclusion. We evaluate quantitatively the policy impacts of relaxing each of these constraints separately, and in combination, on GDP and inequality. We focus on three...

Using three distinct approaches—statistical filtering, production function, and multivariate model— this paper estimates potential growth for China, India, and five ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) during 1993–2013. The main findings include:...

While there is a substantial body of literature on the effects of “debt overhang” on investment in heavily-indebted countries, there is surprisingly little empirical work available on this subject. This paper tests the hypothesis that the stock of foreign debt acts as a disincentive to...

This paper proposes a model of endogenous economic growth and distribution explicitly incorporating social extraction and political competition, with an application to the Philippine historical experience. The major objective is to explain developments in the distribution of national income and...

This paper examines some of the key issues in the conduct of Philippine monetary policy since 1984, including the various shocks to the economy and the monetary authorities’ choice of intermediate policy targets and instruments used to achieve those targets. Against this background, estimates...

The paper discusses the crisis in the Philippines financial sector that began on a limited scale in 1981 and culminated in a significant contraction of the financial system in 1986. The causes, manifestation and transmission mechanism of the crisis are analyzed and reactions of the authorities...

This paper develops a theoretical framework for analyzing external debt policies of developing countries and applies it to assess the cases of three Asian countries, namely Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. The “optimal debt policy” for a developing country is characterized in the first...