The three-point VAT increase is part of a package in which unemployment payroll taxes will be reduced. Risks to the recovery are balanced but the range of forecasts for 2007 is unusually wide. The priority for Germany is to transmit its external strength to the domestic economy, thus further...

The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on the Kingdom of the Netherlands—Netherlands highlights the economic developments and policies. The economy is beginning to emerge from an extended downturn. Meanwhile, against a background of soft labor market conditions and economic...

Having in view the three main methods for the estimation of the informal economy's size, the study focuses in the first part on data and methodological problems, trying at the same time to outline a few behavioral aspects by using only simple simulation models. Thus, based on a 288-sample and...

Research over the past several years has led to development of models characterizing equilibrium in a system of local jurisdictions. More recently, there have been a number of studies which have tried to estimate these models. The evidence suggests that simple parametric models can explain the...

The paper examines the causal relationship between disability and poverty among Indian elderly. Using different poverty measures and statistical tests, the paper also attempts to analyze the depth of poverty among disabled elderly. A special round of National Sample Survey data on disability is...

This paper focuses on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. The National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper represents the result of analyses of the country’s current situation as well as a set of proposals designed to rout the...

This Joint Staff Advisory Note focuses on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The PRSP for Congo states that accelerated and sustainable economic growth will not be possible without a dynamic private sector engaged in job creation,...

A very ambitious fiscal adjustment effort is under way. Fiscal institutional and sectoral reforms have been elaborated for a more durable adjustment. Greece’s determination toward a comprehensive modernization of the health sector, beginning with a far-reaching reform of state enterprises...