Reforms often occur in waves, seemingly cascading from country to country. We argue that such reform waves may be driven by informational spillovers: uncertainty about the outcome of reform is reduced by learning from the experience of similar countries. We motivate this hypothesis with a simple...

We propose exploiting the term structure of relative interest rates to obtain estimates of changes in the timing of a currency crisis as perceived by market participants. Our indicator can be used to evaluate the relative probability of a crisis occurring in one week as compared to a crisis...

Using data from transition economies, this paper examines linkages between political constraints and economic reforms. Estimation results suggest that progress in reform is positively associated with public support for reforms, which is affected by income inequality and expected individual...

Zahlreiche Staaten haben am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts den Wechsel von Sozialismus und Zentralverwaltungswirtschaft zu Demokratie und Marktwirtschaften vollzogen. Das unterlegene Wirtschaftssystem wurde durch ein leistungsfähigeres ersetzt und damit die Grundlage für eine bessere...