This paper discusses Bulgaria’s prospects for converging to the living standards of the more advanced members of the European Union (EU). The unfavorable economic environment of the early 1990s and the economic crisis in 1996–97 hurt Bulgaria’s output, employment, and...

Prudent macroeconomic management, strong growth, low inflation, small fiscal deficit, and public debt have helped The Bahamas attain the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. Executive Directors supported the government’s goals of balancing the budget and reducing debt. They...

We address the optimal timing of investment in gas pipelines when the demand for gas is stochastic. We will show that this is a problem that can be solved in theory, but the practical solution depends on functions and parameters that are either subjective or cannot be estimated. We will then...

This paper addresses the timing of optimal investment in LPG pipelines when the goal is to maximize consumer surplus less private cost and social of transporting LPG. The loss of consumer surplus is small. The important elements are the private cost of transporting LPG and the congestion created...

We develop a micro-founded general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents to identify pertinent constraints to financial inclusion. We evaluate quantitatively the policy impacts of relaxing each of these constraints separately, and in combination, on GDP and inequality. We focus on three...