This volume contains a group of papers written on the eve of German Unification by the IMF mission team working with the German government. It covers an array of critical issues in the economics of the unification process: monetary, exchange rate, fiscal, and structural issues; migration and the...

This paper provides an exposition and a critical assessment of the Common Agricultural Policy of the E.C. It focuses on the effects of this policy--most particularly on both its domestic and international economic implications--and on the scope for welfare-enhancing reform

This paper describes the anatomy of two types of balance-sheet macroeconomic crises. Conventional balance-sheet crises are triggered by external imbalances and balance sheet vulnerabilities. They typically occur after capital inflows have led to a substantial build up of foreign currency...

We present a stylized real model of the Chinese economy with the objective of explaining two features: (1) domestic production is highly competitive in the sense that an accumulation of capital that raises the marginal product of labor elicits increases in employment and output rather than only...

This paper examines indicators of competitiveness. It analyzes the conceptual foundations of conventional measures of the real exchange rate and finds that inferences about competitiveness from these indicators require strong, and in many cases implausible, assumptions. Based on this analysis...

This paper discusses the forces driving capital flows in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that various influences - specifically, the real exchange rate history and trend and the factor intensity of production - can combine to motivate very large capital...

The paper examines the effects of aid and its volatility on consumption, investment, and the structure of production in the context of an intertemporal two-sector general equilibrium model. A permanent flow of aid finances mainly consumption, a result consistent with the historical failure of...

This paper describes the anatomy of two types of balance-sheet macroeconomic crises. Conventional balance-sheet crises are triggered by external imbalances and balance sheet vulnerabilities. They typically occur after capital inflows have led to a substantial build up of foreign currency...