This paper analyzes the initial conditions before Fund financial arrangements are adopted. Evidence from 324 Fund arrangements in 78 developing countries during 1973-91 indicates that there are important differences in the characteristics between program episodes and a control group. Program...

We examine whether Mexico’s disinflation experience during 1987-94 fits a widely accepted set of stylized facts of exchange rate-based stabilization (ERBS), and relate it to theories put forward to account for the boom-recession business cycle associated with ERBS. A cursory look at Mexican...

This paper examines the problem of unemployment in Ireland. A brief description of the main distinctive features of the structure of Irish unemployment is presented. Based on up to date literature, the possible causes behind unemployment are reviewed. Empirical studies that have quantified the...

This paper analyses empirically the economic factors that lead to approval of Fund financial arrangements. We account for both the economic variables that induce a country to seek an arrangement with the Fund ("demand-side" factors) and the macroeconomic policy commitments that the Fund...

The paper analyzes the role of labor market segmentation and relative wage rigidity in the transmission process of macroeconomic shocks in a two-sector optimizing model of a small open economy. The analysis is first conducted in the context of perfect intersectoral labor mobility. The discussion...

Credibility and financing problems are important reasons why countries may seek to involve external institutions in the design and implementation of stabilization programs. In particular, governments may rely on external institutions to ‘enforce’ programs that would otherwise lack...

This report seeks to shed light on the characteristics of currency carry trades in Latin America. Partly reflecting the degree of financial market integration and development, as well as the effects of regulation, carry trades in the region have typically been implemented by taking long forward...