While within-region diversity of country experiences is undoubtedly large, there are certain distinct modes and trends of policies and outcomes followed by countries within a region, for reasons that probably have to do as much with economics and geographical proximity as with a common culture...

High instability and low growth characterise the macroeconomic performance of most developing countries. Inadequate policies are often to blame. This paper documents the empirical regularities that characterise the relationships among macroeconomic/financial policies, instability and growth...