The IMF Working Papers series is designed to make IMF staff research available to a wide audience. Almost 300 Working Papers are released each year, covering a wide range of theoretical and analytical topics, including balance of payments, monetary and fiscal issues, global liquidity, and national and international economic developments.
From 1976 to 1980, the International Monetary Fund sold by sealed-bid auctions one-fifth of its gold stock and systematically experimented with auction format. Based on data from these auctions, this paper uses nonlinear estimation techniques to estimate demand curves under the alternative formats. Demand schedules at the uniform-price auctions were steeper and to the right of those at discriminatory-price auctions, upholding the predictions of bidding theory. Moreover, it is estimated that discriminating-price auctions yielded lower revenue than uniform-price auctions; Monte Carlo simulations suggest that this latter result is both robust and statistically significant.
This paper extends a standard growth model and obtains consistent panel data estimates of the growth retarding effects of military spending via its adverse impact on capital formation and resource allocation. Simulation experiments suggest that a substantial long-term “peace dividend”—in the form of higher capacity output—may result from markedly lower military expenditure levels achieved in most regions during the late 1980s, and the further military spending cuts that would be possible if global peace could be secured.
Providing forty articles written by experts, this book explores the development of government spending and revenue policymaking, the legacy of John Maynard Keynes, taxes and tax policies, government budgeting and accounting, and government debt management. Topics include the implications of the federal balanced budget amendment, factors that affect implementation of fiscal policies, the relationship between tax assessment and economic prosperity, and debt management strategies by government institutions. It covers the role of government in formulating economic policies for growth and full employment and reviews issues associated with the implementation of fiscal policies.
This unique volume presents new original research exploring factors that lead to investors behavioral biases. It discusses how features such as professionalism, sophistication, gender, media, and culture influence investors' decision-making in general, and in particular, how they generate (or limit) behavioral and cognitive biases. The effects of these factors on capital markets are also discussed. The book is based on the discussions and presentations at the First Israel Behavioral Finance Conference, which took place in Tel Aviv in May 2015. It examines in greater detail some of the key issues discussed at the conference.This is an innovative book in behavioral finance: it is the first to present an extensive collection of papers which discuss a comprehensive array of factors that influence or define investor character and analyzes these factors' effects on financial markets. The book is useful for readers interested in understanding the factors that influence investors' profiles and thus their behavioral biases. The book will be of great interest to researchers and students seeking a reference book which contains timely research on these areas of behavioral finance.
This paper identifies factors that contributed to the development and effectiveness of debt securities markets in the major advanced economies. Government securities markets have benefited from their international orientation—debt management is most effective when it is independent of monetary and exchange rate policies; and financial infrastructures should be patterned on the standards of liquidity, transparency, issuing and trading efficiency, and tax treatment. The same degree of consensus does not exist for corporate debt securities markets. The paper identifies six regulatory and market-created factors that help explain why the U.S. corporate debt market has flourished, while corporate debt securities markets elsewhere have only recently begun to develop.
Research activity in the IMF emphasizes the links between the organization's policy and operational concerns. The main objectives of research is IMF staff understanding of policy and operational issues relevant to the institution, and to improve the analytical quality of the work prepared for management and the Executive Board and the advice provided to member countries. The scope of research in the IMF is defined by the purposes and functions of the institution. In order to foster innovation and ensure quality control, the IMF makes much of its research available outside the institution and encourages staff to interact with academia and other research organizations through conferences, seminars, and occasional joint research projects. The visiting scholar’s program has also enhanced the quality of research done in the IMF. This program brings in leading members of the economics profession from around the world to assist in the preparation of papers for the Executive Board and to conduct research on IMF-related issues.
