As more nations in the Western Hemisphere consider adopting the U.S. dollar as their own major currency, this IMF economist separates fact from fiction concerning dollarization. How will the dollarized nations react to U.S. monetary policy over which they will have no say?

Dollarization is becoming a viable option for a number of countries, but the loss of seigniorage is a major obstacle. The paper looks at the major seigniorage sharing arrangements available and issues that arise in the design of the new arrangements.

This paper analyzes the design, coverage, implementation and enforcement of incomes policy in two transitional economies: Bulgaria and Romania. Lessons drawn from Bulgarian and Romanian experiences might also be relevant for other countries which are currently in the process of formulating and...

The article provides a fresh look at employee ownership as a method of privatization and discusses theoretical and incentives effects and recent experiences in Eastern and Central Europe.

The paper uses the 1992 household survey for Bulgaria to show poor revenue performance of the income tax structure prevailing in 1992, which did not take into account the underlying distribution of income. The paper shows that Bulgaria can benefit from a much lower and simpler income tax rate...

This paper explores competitiveness of Cote d'Ivoire's economy over a long period of 1960-2003 and its link with cocoa prices. The main conclusions are as follows. First, using four measures of real effective exchange rate (REER) for the 1960-2002 period, we track the evolution of REER and...

The authors empirically study factors that influence public investment in transportation and communication infrastructure. Using data for 1980-86 for 27 economies, they assess the influence of government objectives, the nature of the domestic economy, and the external assistance flow on public...

Value-added tax (VAT) has become a major tax instrument in over 50 countries and an important element in tax policy advice to developing countries. But few studies have empirically tested some basic hypotheses about the performance and key feature of VAT as a revenue-raising instrument. The...

The paper compares the costs and benefits of dollarization for the dollarizing country and the 'anchor' country.

The paper measures economic loss from the problem of inadequate collateral in Bulgaria and proposes solutions consisting of creation of security interests, perfection, and enforcement.