The traditional model of import behavior -- which looks only at the gross domestic product (GDP) and real import prices as explanatory variables -- failed to predict or explain the developing countries'import slumps in the early 1980's. This paper expands on a more useful model, the Hemphill,...

One rationale for debt reduction operations under the Brady Plan has been, by alleviating the debt overhang, to improve investment efficiency. Brady-type debt and debt-service reduction (within a strong policy framework, where there is a track record of economic adjustment) has been shown to...

Some European Community (EC) countries give preferred market access and high prices to bananas from selected developing countries or EC regional suppliers. This preferential status is regarded as a form of aid to these countries, most of which are developing small island economies. EC marketers...

This paper is about financial flows in developing countries. It reviews the evidence on who the borrowers and lenders are. Apart from collecting and summarizing available data from some seventeen countries, the paper presents the results of an econometric analysis of the interactions between the...

In response to calls for finer targeting of spending to alleviate poverty in developing countries, this paper discusses the principles of targeting. The ideal solution is that all transfers go to the poor. However, this is unrealizable because of three factors: (a) the costs of administration...

The model presented in this paper is in between RMSM-X and RMSM-XX in that, unlike RMSM-X, it does incorporate behavioural functions for the main macroeconomic variables, namely private consumption, private investment, money demand, demand for quasi money,export supply, and import demand....

After decades of heavy trade restrictions, fiscal distortions, and currency overvaluation, Cameroon implemented important commercial and fiscal policy reforms. Almost simultaneously, a major CFA devaluation cut the international price of Cameroon's currency in half. The authors examine the...

The authors provide a simple introduction to the economics of the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) and use available empirical evidence to examine its impact on exports of garments and textiles, focusing on India. Their review of the basic economics of the MFA shows the discriminatory character of...

The purpose of this paper is to identify public policy and program interventions that can increase real rural wage rates and hence reduce rural poverty. Rural wages can only increase if the demand for rural labor grows faster than its supply. The report states that whether public policies...

Poverty maps, providing information on the spatial distribution of living standards, are an important tool for policy making and economic research. Policymakers can use such maps to allocate transfers and inform policy design. The maps can also be used to investigate the relationship between...