This paper examines the evolution of market structure in emerging markets banking systems during the 1990s. While a significant process of bank consolidation has been taking place in these countries, reflected in a sharp decline in the number of banks, this process has not systematically been...

When the capital stock is endogenously chosen by optimizing households, the predictions of the static specific-factors model are modified. An increase in tariffs unambiguously increases real wages, whereas an expansion of the labor force does not reduce wages. Capital and land are not only...

This paper reviews macroeconomic aspects of pension reforms in Latin America, focusing on financial market stability and fiscal sustainability. Concentration of pension fund portfolios in government bonds remains high, and the lack of new investment alternatives has distorted asset prices....

This paper studies changes in Canada's monetary policy transmission, associated with the important changes in financial structure experienced in the 1990's, using two methodologies. First, VAR models show a clear break in monetary transmission beginning in 1988, after changes in financial...

In this paper we explore some of the informational problems that constrain the development of credit markets in transition economies. We characterize investment patterns under uncertainty and high costs of entry, when agents learn about the ultimate value of enterprises through production in a...

This paper compares business cycles in Asia and in Latin America using structural vector autoregression analysis with panel data. The evidence for countries in these regions suggests that (i) the main source of output fluctuations is supply shocks, even in the short run; (ii) the real exchange...