This paper develops a simple dynamic general equilibrium model of an agricultural economy, in which poor farmers borrow wheat from rich farmers to invest in their land. Since wheat output is stochastic (we allow for both idiosynchratic and aggregate shocks) there may be default ex-post. The main...

Inflation can “grease” the wheels of the labor market by relaxing downward wage rigidity but it can also increase uncertainty and have a negative “sand” effect. This paper studies the grease effect of inflation by looking at whether the interaction between inflation and labor market...

This paper uses a difference-in-difference methodology similar to the one originally proposed by Rajan and Zingales (1998) to test whether defaulting hurts the more export-oriented industries. Strong support for this hypothesis was found, but contrary to the findings of previous studies, our...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) Estudios de varios países han puesto al descubierto una relación negativa entre la desigualdad del ingreso y el crecimiento económico. El problema principal que hay con los análisis de varios países es la escasa calidad de los datos sobre la...

The paper presents a new database on sovereign debt in the Americas, describing the sources used and briefly discussing several methodological issues. The paper also highlights major trends in level and composition of public debt in the Americas, discussing debt dollarization in detail.

This paper discusses whether a country should conduct fiscal policy by targeting a structural (or cyclically adjusted) fiscal balance. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section discusses the concept of cyclically adjusted balance (CAB) and points out practical and conceptual...

This paper presents a new dataset on electoral systems and outlines its potential uses in further research exploring the connections between electoral systems and economic outcomes. The dataset provides indicators of the degree to which individual politicians can further their careers by...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) En este trabajo se revisa la obra publicada recientemente sobre la viabilidad fiscal, con acento especial en los países de mercados emergentes. Se tratan los elementos principales que distinguen a los países de mercados emergentes de los países...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) Investigaciones empíricas sugieren la presencia de una prima salarial en el sector público, cuyos motivos se analizan en este trabajo. Los resultados demuestran que las mujeres reciben una prima mayor y que la prima disminuye según lo hace la...

Commonly used datasets on the level of public debt provide incomplete country and period coverage. This paper presents a new dataset that includes complete series of central government debt for 89 countries over the 1991-2005 period and for seven other countries for the 1993-2005 period. The...