1,721,161 research outputs found
Introduction : la Zone franc CFA en Afrique : un symposium
No full textAzam Jean-Paul, Devarajan Shantayanan. Introduction : la Zone franc CFA en Afrique : un symposium. In: Revue d'économie du développement, 4e année N°4, 1996. Zone franc et dévaluation des francs CFA. Politique de change – II. pp. 3-4
Avant-propos
No full textAzam Jean-Paul, Devarajan Shantayanan. Avant-propos. In: Revue d'économie du développement, 4e année N°4, 1996. Zone franc et dévaluation des francs CFA. Politique de change – II. pp. 1-2
Avant-propos
No full textAzam Jean-Paul, Devarajan Shantayanan. Avant-propos. In: Revue d'économie du développement, 4e année N°4, 1996. Zone franc et dévaluation des francs CFA. Politique de change – II. pp. 1-2
World Bank Economists' Forum : Volume 2
No full textThe first World Bank Economists'
Forum was held on May 3-4, 1999. The forum attempts to
answer these questions: How do you recognize a hidden fiscal
crisis? When capital flows are volatile, what types of
policy announcements can help fend off currency crises? Do
government training programs for unemployed workers have an
effect? What infrastructure investments reduce infant
mortality? This book collects nine outstanding papers
presented at the forum. The main theme surveyed in this book
include fiscal policy, capital flows, trade,
decentralization, labor markets, infrastructure, health, and
worker training. The second volume collects eight more
papers, concerned with household behavior and health,
communities and welfare, local governments and basic
services, and firms and governments under uncertainty
Aid and Reform in Africa : Lessons from Ten Case Studies
No full textThis book synthesizes the findings from
ten case studies that investigate whether, when, and how
foreign aid affected economic policy in Africa, and reveals
the range of African policy experience. Results varied
enormously, for example, while Ghana and Uganda were
successful reformers that grew rapidly reducing poverty,
Cote d'Ivoire and Ethiopia have shown significant
reform recently, but its sustainability remains to be seen,
and, in other countries, policies changed little, or even
worsened. Based on the World Bank's Country Policy and
Institutional Assessment, the study relates foreign aid in
the 1990s, to a measure of overall economic policy, a broad
measure that covers macroeconomic management, as well as
effectiveness of the public sector in providing essential
services for growth, and poverty reduction. In assessing
aid, and reform policy, the study subdivides these countries
in three groups: the post-socialist reformers (Ethiopia,
Mali and Tanzania); the mixed reformers (Cote d'Ivoire,
Kenya and Zambia), and the non-reformers (The Democratic
Republic of Congo - Zaire - and Nigeria). Although defining
"good policy", and how to measure it may be
controversial, research and experience established a fair
knowledge: absence of high inflation, functioning foreign
exchange, openness to foreign trade, effective rule of law,
and delivery of key services. Conclusions stipulate that key
to successful reform, is a political movement for change;
that key to beneficial aid is its disbursement alongside
actual policy improvements; and, that technical assistance,
and policy dialogue should continue a high level of finance
in productive environments
Do the benefits of fixed exchange rates outweigh their costs? The Franc Zone in Africa
Full text linkThe authors develop a simple, formal framework for clarifying the tradeoffs involved in choosing between a fixed and flexible exchange rate system. They apply this framework to the countries of Africa's CFA Zone, which have maintained fixed parity with the French franc since independence. Because a few agricultural products and natural resources dominate their exports, member countries of Africa's CFA Zone have suffered frequent shocks in terms of trade. A flexible exchange rate could possibly have alleviated the costs of these external shocks. On the other hand, CFA member countries have managed to maintain lower inflation levels than their neighbors. The fixed exchange rate of the CFA Zone acts as a credible committment. The government"ties its own hands"so that it will not be tempted to use the exchange rate, thereby eliciting lower wage and price increases from the private sector. Weighing this benefit against the costs of nonadjustment to external shocks, the authors conclude that fixed exchange rates have been a bad bargain for the CFA member countries. These countries would have been better off having the ability to adjust to external shocks.Environmental Economics&Policies,Macroeconomic Management,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Economic Stabilization,Economic Theory&Research
The implications of foreign aid fungibility for development assistance
Full text linkA foreign aid or foreign lending policy that focuses exclusively on project financing may have unintended consequences, report the authors. New research shows that aid intended for crucial social and economic sectors often merely substitutes for spending that recipient governments would have undertaken anyway and the funds that are thereby freed up are spent for other purposes. If the aid funds something that would have been done anyway, traditional ways of evaluating the aid's effectiveness are not really accurate. Ifaid funds are fungible and the recipient's public spending program is unsatisfactory, project lending may not be cost-effective. If the recipient's public spending program is satisfactory, perhaps the donor should finance a portion of it instead of financing individual projects. One solution to the problem of fungibility, then, is that donors could tie assistance to an overall public spending program (in the recipient country) that provides adequate resources to crucial sectors. To make this kind of reform operational, the authors propose a new lending instrument: a public expenditure reform loan (PERL). A PERL would tie an institution's lending strategy to the recipient country's achievement of mutually agreed-upon development goals. Everyone agrees that better donor coordination is needed, but it has been difficult to achieve because some donors tend to prefer projects (usually with the national flag flying over them). By agreeing on a public expenditure program and financing a portion of it, the World Bank credibly ask other donors to do the same.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness,Gender and Development,Decentralization,Economic Adjustment and Lending,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness,Poverty Assessment,National Governance,Economic Adjustment and Lending,Public Sector Economics&Finance
Les effets économiques de l'épidémie du SIDA en Afrique subsaharienne : une analyse d'équilibre général
No full textSince its detection in the early 1980s, the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (aids) has become a worldwide epidemic that is spreading rapidly, albeit unevenly, across continents, countries, age groups and socio-economic classes. In addition to finding ways to mitigate the pain, social disruption, and human suffering that it inflicts in its wake, economists and policy makers have also been concerned with the potentially significant economic consequences of aids illnesses. How will the spread of the aids virus and the accompanying rise in adult mortality affect a country's economic performance ? Will spending on aids absorb a large and growing portion of national saving thereby impeding capital formation and economic growth ? These and related questions are of particular importance to decision makers in countries where domestic human and non-human resources are acutely scarce.Depuis son apparition au début des années 80, le Syndrome d'immuno-déficience acquise (sida) est devenu une épidémie mondiale qui se propage rapidement, bien qu'à des degrés divers, à travers continents, pays, groupes d'âge et classes socio-économiques. Les économistes et les hommes politiques sont préoccupés non seulement par les moyens d'atténuer la douleur, la rupture sociale et la souffrance humaine qu'il inflige à son passage, mais également par les conséquences économiques significatives des maladies causées par le sida. De quelle manière la propagation du virus et l'augmentation de la mortalité adulte qui en résulte affecteront-elles la performance économique d'un pays ? Les dépenses pour le traitement du sida absorberont-elles une part importante et croissante de l'épargne nationale faisant ainsi obstacle à la formation du capital et à la croissance économique ? Ces questions, qui sont liées, sont d'une importance considérable pour les responsables de la prise des décisions dans des pays où les ressources humaines et financières sont particulièrement rares.Kambou Gérard, Devarajan Shantayanan, Over A.Mead. Les effets économiques de l'épidémie du SIDA en Afrique subsaharienne : une analyse d'équilibre général. In: Revue d'économie du développement, 1e année N°1, 1993. pp. 37-62
The World Bank Research Observer 15(1)
No full textCrisis, adjustment, and reform in
Thailand's industrial firms; by David Dollar and Mary
Hallward-Driemeier. Corporate performance in the East Asian
financial crisis; by Stijn Claessens, Simeon Djankov, and
Lixin Colin Xu. Industrial policy : growth elixir or
poison?; by Howard Pack. Financial safety nets : lessons
from Chile; by Philip L. Brock. Lessons in structuring
derivatives exchanges; by George Tsetsekos and Panos
Varangis. Growth and institutions: a review of the evidence;
by Janine Aron
Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in south Africa
Full text linkNoting that South Africa may be one of the few African countries that could contribute to mitigating climate change, the authors explore the impact of a carbon tax relative to alternative energy taxes on economic welfare. Using a disaggregate general-equilibrium model of the South African economy, they capture the structural characteristics of the energy sector, linking a supply mix that is heavily skewed toward coal to energy use by different sectors and hence their carbon content. The authors consider a"pure"carbon tax as well as various proxy taxes such as those on energy or energy-intensive sectors like transport and basic metals, all of which achieve the same level of carbon reduction. In general, the more targeted the tax to carbon emissions, the better the welfare results. If a carbon tax is feasible, it will have the least marginal cost of abatement by a substantial amount when compared to alternative tax instruments. If a carbon tax is not feasible, a sales tax on energy inputs is the next best option. Moreover, labor market distortions such as labor market segmentation or unemployment will likely dominate the welfare and equity implications of a carbon tax for South Africa. This being the case, if South Africa were able to remove some of the distortions in the labor market, the cost of carbon taxation would be negligible. In short, the discussion of carbon taxation in South Africa can focus on considerations other than the economic welfare costs, which are likely to be quite low.Environmental Economics&Policies,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Taxation&Subsidies,Energy Production and Transportation,Environment and Energy Efficiency
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