This paper contains abstracts of Policy Research Working Paper series, numbers 2680 - 2753.

The paper reviews alternative definitions of the non-financialpublic sector deficit. Important points giving rise to different definitions are the problem of foreign exchange losses, the appropriateness of including net government lending to the private sector and the distinction between nominal...

The authors examine the empirical links between current account deficits and a broad set of economic variables proposed in the literature. To accomplish this, they complement and extend previous research by using a large, consistent set of macroeconomic data on public and private domestic...

In discussing the causes and consequences of large capital inflows to developing countries, the author emphasizes two things. First, although there are legitimate grounds for an optimistic long-term outlook on private capital flows to developing countries, there is little to suggest that the...

The story of Mexico's involvement in international capital markets is one of riches to rags and back to riches again. Four periods can be distinguished: stable, steady international borrowing through the 1950s and 1960s; heavy reliance on international loans through commercial bank syndicates...

The authors analyze the impact of three classes of external shocks in open economies, using a rational expectations framework that nests three prototype economies: a neoclassical full-employment benchmark, with intertemporally optimizing consumers and firms an instant clearing of asset, goods,...

Bahrain's economy is characterized by producer and consumer subsidies and, possibly misaligned currency. These subsidies have resulted in lower savings rates than would be consistent with the country's endowment in oil and gas. In addition, the misaligned real exchange rate has encouraged...

Parallel exchange-rate markets have often been dismissed by authorities as a nuisance or as the domain of a small group of economic saboteurs. Using Tanzania as a case study, the authors argue instead that these markets played a central macroeconomicrole in the 1970s and 1980s. They provide a...

This paper works at the interface of the literature exploring the raison d'etre of the informal labor market and that explaining the real exchange rate appreciations occurring in many Latin American countries during periods of reform. The authors first build a small country-Australian style...

In the 1990s international bond issues from developing countries surged dramatically, becoming one of the fastest-growing devices for financing external development. Their terms have improved as institutional investors have become more interested in emerging market securities and better economic...