The authors of this paper use simple statistical methods to measure the effect of adjustment lending (AL) on economic performance. Using eight economic indicators, they rely on traditional"before-after"comparisons of AL recipients and a control group of 62 countries. How have countries under...

The authors argue that non-financial firms act as intermediaries, by channeling short-term funds from the financial institutions in an economy, to their best use. Non-financial firms act in this way because they may have a comparative advantage in exploiting informal means of ensuring that...

Explanations of the causes of the Asian crisis have focused on macroeconomic factors leading to the crisis. This paper offers a complementary corporate distress perspective linking the crisis to corporate finances. Key ratios for companies in various countries are presented in the paper. The...

The authors show how the various methods commonly used to measure capital flight produce vastly different estimates (with a 100 percent difference between the lowest and the highest, in Mexico's case). They emphasize the importance of the conceptual approach to its measurement. First of all,...

The authors analyze some aspects of the market for Brady bonds (restructured debt in developing countries). They focus on how the debt crisis in Mexico in 1994 affected risk assessment (as measured by the stripped spread) in other Brady countries, especially Poland. Their main finding: The risk...

Pakistan's rural sector accounts for more than 70 percent of employment, and roughly two-thirds of rural employment is in agriculture. Less than a third of rural households get loans, only 10 percent of which are from institutional sources. Pakistan's credit institutions are not helping the...

The author uses panel data on 394 firms in 13 developing countries for the years 1988-98 to learn whether financial liberalization relaxes financing constraints on firms. He finds that liberalization affects small and large firms differently. Small firms are financially constrained before...

Tax policy instruments are often used to stimulate private investment in developing countries. But researchers have not explored how well such policies have met stated policy objectives. To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of tax incentives for industrial and technological development, the...

Lack of private investment is a serious policy problem in many developing countries, especially in Africa. Despite recent structural reform and stabilization, the investment response to date has been mixed, even among the strongest reformers. The role of poor infrastructure and deficient public...

The debates surrounding the recent East Asian crisis have focused not only on causes but also on policy actions in the wake of the initial shock. This has raised questions about the relationship between monetary policy and market confidence. Specifically, would rising interest rates bolster or...