Determining how imports react to cyclical and secular (long term) factors has been a recurrent theme in the empirical trade literature. The evidence suggests that cyclical income elasticities of import demand are generally higher than long term elasticities - particularly for basic materials and...

As a less restrictive trade regime is associated with greater responsiveness to economic incentives, econometric evidence that does not allow for the impact of import controls cannot be used reliably to assess the effect of a devaluation on the trade balance. Indeed, devaluation combined with...

It is generally agreed that the arrangements that have regulated trade in textiles and clothing have slowed the natural shift in comparative advantage from industrial countries to developing countries. But there is quite a bit of disagreement about how restrictive the Multi-Fibre Agreements...

The authors of this paper use simple statistical methods to measure the effect of adjustment lending (AL) on economic performance. Using eight economic indicators, they rely on traditional"before-after"comparisons of AL recipients and a control group of 62 countries. How have countries under...

Adjustment to the macroeconomic crises of the eighties was least successful on the fiscal front. The authors, in this introduction to a symposium on fiscal issues in adjustment, summarize the issues raised by papers in the symposium. Those papers deal with various aspects of the fiscal crisis...

After the fall in average per capita GDP growth that took place in the 1980s, adjustment lending programs supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) were launched in response to the deteriorating external environment. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and...

At the center of the controversy about effectiveness of"adjustment with growth"loan packages from the IMF and the World Bank has been the heavy emphasis on real exchange rate depreciation as a way to restore external balance and elicit a positive supply response. The authors find that adjustment...

This paper tries to uncover the reasons underlying the performance of the Moroccan economy. The author argues that wage moderation and judicious monetary policies were instrumental in restraining inflation. With one brief exception in 1983, monetary authorities remained firmly committed to...