Capital flows to developing countries are small and mostly take the form of loans rather than direct foreign investment. Kraay, Loayza, and Serven build a simple model of North-South capital flows that highlights the interplay between diminishing returns, production risk, and sovereign risk. The...

Between 1989 and 2003, low-income countries received $100 billion in debt relief. The stated objectives for much of this debt relief have been to reduce debt overhang and to free up recipient government resources for development spending that would otherwise have been used for debt service. In...