Coffee is an important crop for the Dominican Republic, accounting for an average of 11 percent of total exports by value during 1982-84. But for the last 10 years, coffee yields have been low, and production and exports stagnant. If current policies for coffee continue, production and exports...

Tajikistan's economy has recovered strongly after the collapse of the 1990s, but sustaining rapid economic growth over the long term and reducing poverty present major challenges for policymakers. This paper contributes to the debate over the strategic role for fiscal policy to play in meeting...

The authors study how agents in Latin America allocate their balances between dollar-denominated and domestic currency-denominated accounts. They empirically determine the causes of currency substitution, its significance in recent banking crises, and the link between currency substitution, and...

De Nicol? Honohan, and Ize assess the benefits and risks associated with dollarization of the banking system. The authors provide novel empirical evidence on the determinants of dollarization, its role in promoting financial development, and on whether dollarization is associated with financial...

There have been extensive theoretical studies of firms'responses to environmental regulations ad enforcement but few empirical analyses of firms'expenditures on pollution abatement in response to different regulations and enforcement strategies. The authors empirically analyze the pollution...

Despite external shocks, Indonesia has maintained creditworthiness through swift adjustment. Indonesia's flexible economic management and clear policy signals have lent stability to the economy, in contrast to the stop and go reforms, uncertainty, and constant debt renegotiations in many high...

Drawing on the recent literature on economic institutions and the origins of economic development, the authors offer a political economy explanation of why institution building has varied so much across transition economies. They identify dependence on natural resources and the historical...

This paper uses a cross sectional method to analyze irrigation choice and crop choice across 8,405 farmers in 28 provinces in China. The findings show that Chinese farmers are more likely to irrigate when facing lower temperatures and less precipitation. Farmers in warmer places are more likely...

In 1986 and 1987 the lower oil prices called into question many of the fundamental assumptions that were the stock in trade of energy experts during the previous ten years. This document is a collection of papers representing responses to concerns prepared by current and former World Bank staff....

Statistics show that the sale of goods on credit is widespread among firms even when they are capital constrained and thus face relatively high costs in providing trade credit. This study provides an explanation for this by arguing that customers who possess strong market power are able to...