"This paper tests the importance of precautionary and mercantilist motives in accounting for the hoarding of international reserves by developing countries, and provides a model that quantifies the welfare gains from optimal management of international reserves. While the variables associated...

The club of high-performing emerging markets is fairly concentrated in East Asia. Their TFP growth may not be extraordinary, though their growth rate is unprecedented. Factors argued to promote growth include trade, investment, external financing, and good governance. The importance of external...

This paper argues that the limited ability to help developing countries in a crisis should shift the focus to policies helping in reducing the ex ante probability of crises. Indirectly, such policies would also alleviate the depths of realized crises. Two specific ideas are explored:...