The recent financial crisis has shown that financial innovation can have devastating systemic impacts. International standard setters'' and national regulators'' response has been a global concerted effort to overhaul and tighten financial regulations. However, at a time of designing stricter...

Effectiveness can always be measured only in relation to a specific, pre-defined goal or goal system. In the case of aid effectiveness, this system should be the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are now recognised by all relevant stakeholders as the central objectives of international....

Mozambique has been one of the first highly indebted countries to obtain a debt reduction, in the framework of HIPC and enhanced HIPC initiative, and to implement a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. The process is still in its early stages, but it is already possible to investigate on the recent...

In this paper, we explore the potential growth effects of foreign aid when in conjunction with severe debt problems. We first argue that aid, when used to finance debt repayments, does not lead to Dutch Disease while still alleviating an economic problem. A set of empirical estimates show that...

We analyze the medium-term macroeconomic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lock-down measures on low-income countries. We focus on the impact over the medium-run of the degradation of health and human capital caused by the pandemic and its aftermath, exploring the trade-offs between...

The poor can and do save, but often use formal or informal instruments that have high risk, high cost, and sub-optimal design. This could lead to undersaving compared to a world without market or behavioral frictions. Undersaving has important welfare consequences: variable consumption, low...

The poor can and do save, but often use formal or informal instruments that have high risk, high cost, and limited functionality. This could lead to undersaving compared to a world without market or behavioural frictions. Undersaving can have important welfare consequences: variable consumption,...

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of several governance mechanisms on microfinance institutions' (MFI) performance. We first define performance as efficiency in reaching many poor clients. Following the literature on efficiency in banks, we estimate a stochastic cost frontier and measure...

We examine the relations between the financial and outreach efficiency of Cambodian microfinance institutions (MFIs). Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) finds that commercially focused MFIs are no less efficient at reaching the poor than non-profit ones. Larger MFIs appear as efficient at reaching...