This paper analyzes the growth and stabilization experience in 26 transition economies in eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Mongolia for the period 1989-1994. Inflation rates have declined significantly in most countries following an inflation stabilization program. Growth resumes...

The purpose of this paper is to empirically determine the effects of political instability on economic growth. Using the system-GMM estimator for linear dynamic panel data models on a sample covering up to 169 countries, and 5-year periods from 1960 to 2004, we find that higher degrees of...

Should policymakers still be concerned about economic growth in trading partners? Have developing and emerging market countries decoupled from the US enough to grow despite significant recession in the US? Using VAR models, this paper addresses these questions for Nigeria in the context of the...

The paper provides an alternative explanation for the ""resource curse"" based on the income effect resulting from high government current spending in resource rich economies. Using a simple life cycle framework, we show that private investment in the non-resource sector is adversely affected if...

This pamphlet excerpts a chapter on macroeconomic policy from the Poverty Reduction Policy Source book, a guide prepared by the World Bank and IMF to assist countries in developing and strengthening their poverty reduction strategies. It probes the relationship between macroeconomic policy...

The experience of Central and Eastern European countries with moving from centrally planned to open-market economies is examined in this collection of papers given at an April 1991 seminar, moderated by Georg Winckler and organized by the IMF and the Austrian National Bank

This Selected Issues paper assesses Indonesia’s trade integration relative to underlying country characteristics. The paper analyzes Indonesia’s vulnerabilities, especially compared with the eve of the crisis in 1997. Various indicators suggest that the underlying fundamentals are...

Simulations with the Fund’s GIMF model show that raising government savings in New Zealand permanently by 1 percent of GDP is likely to improve the current account balance by about 1⁄2 percent of GDP. The way government savings are achieved matters for GDP but little for the current account....