Data for recent years indicate an acceleration of Chinese industrial growth, from the annual rates of about 10 percent recorded in the quarter century before economic reform to figures approaching 15 percent in the mid- and late 1980s. Evaluating the statistics underlying these reports requires...

The authors bring new empirical evidence on the impact of the choice of ownership and regulatory regime on firms'productivity and prices paid by consumers. They collect the evidence from a sample of electricity distribution companies in Latin America. The authors rely on estimations of labor and...

The European Union (EU), Japan, and the United States (US) have recently announced initiatives to improve market access for the poorest countries. The authors assess the impact on Sub-Saharan Africa of these initiatives, and others that might be taken. They find that fully unrestricted access to...

Efficient reduction of carbon dioxide emissions requires coordination of international efforts. Approaches proposed include carbon taxes, emission quotas, and jointly implemented energy projects. To reduce emissions efficiently, requires equalizing the marginal costs of reduction between...

Countries sometimes use export controls on raw materials to encourage domestic processing. The motivation is usually to assure raw materials at low prices for domestic industries, although exports are sometimes controlled in an attempt to increase export earnings (by promoting exports of higher...

Malaysia's sustained growth in the 1970s was boosted by windfall gains during two oil price hikes plus a commodity boom. Oil and commodity prices fell in the 1980s and Malaysia, an oil exporter, bungled into a rather severe depression in 1985-86. But it recovered quickly, to the surprise of some...

The author argues that Poland must choose an agricultural policy that promotes efficiency, structural change, and adjustment to the new market environment and eventual membership in the European Union. That policy must take into account both the needs of, and the financial constraints on, Polish...

A shock that lowers profits depresses employment less when wages are flexible in terms of the value-added output price. This kind of flexibility allows a country to remain competitive in world markets when a shock to profits lowers its value-added output price. In many countries, wages are...

In the chaotic financial environment of East Asia in 1997-98, daily changes in stock prices of as much as 10 percent became commonplace. The authors analyze what type of news moved the market in those days of extreme market jitters. They find that movements are triggered by both local and...

Developed-country purchasers of exports from developing-country industrial firms have often provided considerable technical aid to the exporting firms. Some question the benefits to both OECD and developing country firms of such transfers. The authors developed a model to analyze the...