This paper establishes a simple theory-based real exchange rate (RER) Misalignment Index for countries around the world from 1950-2014, and shows that South Africa's RER has been undervalued over the last decade. For the most recent year of 2014, depending on the proxy for productivity, it is...

This paper examines the pros and cons of gradual versus big-bang approaches toward devaluations. It presents original empirical evidence regarding output, consumption, investment and trade balances associated with gradual and big-bang devaluation episodes. It finds that big-bang devaluations are...

The global financial crisis and its aftermath have triggered extraordinary policy responses in advanced countries. The impacts of these policy responses-from asset price bubbles to currency depreciations-have often been felt in the developing world. As tapering talk evolves into actual...

This paper studies the question of whether exchange rate policy affects the impact of remittances on economic growth in recipient countries. The paper utilizes a comprehensive data set that comprises annual observations for 135 developing and transition countries, spanning 1970-2007. The data...

This paper analyzes the export performance of Polish manufacturing firms. It focuses on the extensive and intensive margins of exports, on the decision to enter export markets and the intensity of exports, given participation, examining price and non-price determinants of export performance. The...

This semiannual report examines the short and medium-term challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as the external factors that were instrumental in the region’s recent performance recede. In particular, we address the role of the exchange rate as a counter-cyclical policy tool to...

How do international economic agreements influence the investment patterns of firms from emerging economies? This paper studies the ways in which bilateral investment treaties and preferential trade agreements interact with geographic and cultural distance to influence firms' investment...

The paper tests the effects of plan-making on job search and employment. In a field experiment with unemployed youths, participants who complete a detailed job search plan increase the number of job applications submitted (by 15 percent) but not the time spent searching, consistent with...

This paper collects a unique data set of classified ads and exploits quasi-random variation in the applicant pool composition to test for hiring discrimination against immigrants in South Africa's informal sector. Consistent with a tournament models in which immigrants are penalized, the...

This book presents key activities, promising practices, and lessons learned to date from the World Bank's Tuberculosis (TB) in the Mining Sector Initiative--an innovative multisectoral, multicountry, public-private regional initiative. It examines how a collaborative platform was established to...