So little is known about the rural nonfarm sector that those making policy to assist rural small-scale enterprises have done so largely"unencumbered by evidence". The Lanjouw survey of nonfarm data and policy experience attempts to correct this. Until recently, the commonly held view was that...

The author assesses the Czechoslovak mass privatization program for speed, equity, and corporate governance. The program transferred claims on assets in 1,491 enterprises - assets worth about $10.7 billion - to the 8.5 million citizens who participated in the scheme. The entire cycle of project...

When agricultural production is taxed, the system of producer prices, transport logistics, and decisions on investments in transport for exports must be considered together. Many African states raise revenue by taxing export crops. A common tool for this purpose is marketing boards. Marketing...

To analyze what determines wages and productivity in Zimbabwe, the author analyzes an employer/employee data-set from Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector. The author finds that: * Formal education, training, and experience positively affect wages and productivity positively. * Women are paid roughly...

The ratio of nonwage labor costs (for social security, pensions, vacation days, severence compensation, and the like) to direct wage costs is proportionately higher in Europe and Latin America than in Asia and Africa - largely because workers there are protected more by regulations. The...

The author aims to empirically determine the significant factors that affect the levels of budget deficits of central governments across time and across countries. He empirically tests two prominent theories of budget deficits-the Barro (1979) tax-smoothing approach, and the still-untested...

The authors analyze the links between Russia's disappointing growth performance in the second half of the 1990s, its costly and unsuccessful stabilization, the macroeconomic meltdown of 1998, and the spectacular rise of non-payments. Non-payments flourished in an environment of fundamental...

Czechoslovakia (CSFR) faces marked challenges for successfully accomplishing its transition to a market economy. In recent years the economy was characterized by a good deal of internal and external equilibrium, making possible the current market oriented reforms without the complications which...

Subsidies funded by Russia's regional governments represented about 5.2 percent of GDP in 1995, almost triple the 2 percent of GDP in subsidies funded by the federal government. Regional policies vary greatly, influenced more by local factors than by the federal government. To find out what...

After studying the problems of administering road user taxes in 19 developing countries, the author reports the following, among other things. There is no single, correct structure for road user taxation since the various charges may play different roles in different national revenue systems....