IMF Staff papers, Volume 45 No. 2
IMF Staff papers, Volume 45 No. 2

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1451974167

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This paper analyzes contagion and volatility with imperfect credit markets. The paper interprets contagion effects as an increase in the volatility of shocks impinging on the economy. The implications of this approach are analyzed in a model in which domestic banks borrow at a premium on world capital markets, and domestic producers borrow at a premium from domestic banks. Financial spreads depend on a markup that compensates lenders, in particular, for the expected cost of contract enforcement. Higher volatility increases financial spreads and the producers’ cost of capital.

IMF Staff papers, Volume 45 No. 4
IMF Staff papers, Volume 45 No. 4

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1451972776

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This paper describes the issue of corruption around the world. The paper surveys and discusses issues related to the causes, consequences, and scope of corruption, and possible corrective actions. It emphasizes the costs of corruption in terms of economic growth. It also emphasizes that the fight against corruption may not be cheap and cannot be independent from the reform of the state. If certain reforms are not made, corruption is likely to continue to be a problem regardless of actions directly aimed at curtailing it.

IMF Staff Papers, Volume 57, No. 2
IMF Staff Papers, Volume 57, No. 2

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2010-06-29

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1589069129

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This paper introduces a new database of financial reforms covering 91 economies over 1973-2005. It describes the content of the database, the information sources utilized, and the coding rules used to create an index of financial reform. It also compares the database with other measures of financial liberalization, provides descriptive statistics, and discusses some possible applications. The database provides a multifaceted measure of reform, covering seven aspects of financial sector policy. Along each dimension the database provides a graded (rather than a binary) score, and allows for reversals.

IMF Staff Papers, Volume 54, No. 2
IMF Staff Papers, Volume 54, No. 2

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2007-09-26

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1589066502

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Vol. 54, No. 2 includes three notable contributions from the Seventh Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference (ARC) hosted by the IMF in November 2006. Its lead paper, by Olivier Blanchard of Harvard University, is the 2006 Mundell-Fleming Lecture (delivered at the ARC), which analyzes current-account deficits in the advanced economies. Other papers in this issue look at the relationship between international financial integration and the real economy. Other papers discuss whether (or not): i) the next capital account crisis can be predicted; ii) accepted definitions of debt crises are adequate; iii) the Doha Round of trade talks (if they are ever successfully completed) will lead to preference erosion; and finally iv) there is room for political opportunism in countries deciding between money-based or exchange-rate-based stabilization programs.

IMF Staff papers, Volume 45 No. 3
IMF Staff papers, Volume 45 No. 3

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 1451973608

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This paper presents international evidence on the determinants of trade dynamics. It provides some new empirical perspectives on the relationship between international trade and macroeconomic fluctuations in industrial economies. A comprehensive set of stylized facts concerning fluctuations in trade variables and their determinants is presented. A measure of the quantitative importance of international trade for the propagation of domestic business cycles is then constructed, focusing on the role of external trade as a catalyst for cyclical recoveries.

IMF Staff papers, Volume 45 No. 1
IMF Staff papers, Volume 45 No. 1

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1451974515

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This paper analyzes some leading indicators of currency crises, and proposes a specific early warning system. This system involves monitoring the evolution of several indicators that tend to exhibit an unusual behavior in the periods preceding a crisis. When an indicator exceeds a certain threshold value, this is interpreted as a warning “signal” that a currency crisis may take place. The variables that have the best track record within this approach include exports, deviations of the real exchange rate from trend, and the ratio of broad money to gross international reserves, output, and equity prices.

IMF Staff Papers, Volume 47, No. 2
IMF Staff Papers, Volume 47, No. 2

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 145197423X

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This paper analyzes portfolio diversification, leverage, and financial contagion. It studies the extent to which basic principles of portfolio diversification explain “contagious selling” of financial assets when there are purely local shocks. The paper demonstrates that the elementary portfolio theory offers key insights into “contagion.” Most important, portfolio diversification and leverage are sufficient to explain why an investor will find it optimal to significantly reduce all risky asset positions when an adverse shock impacts just one asset.

IMF Staff papers, Volume 46 No. 2
IMF Staff papers, Volume 46 No. 2

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 1451974205

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This paper analyzes the predictability of currency crises. The paper evaluates three models for predicting currency crises that were proposed before 1997. Two of the models failed to provide useful forecasts. One model provides forecasts that are somewhat informative though still not reliable. Plausible modifications to this model improve its performance, providing some hope that future models may do better. The study suggests, though, that although forecasting models may help indicate vulnerability to crises, the predictive power of even the best of them may be limited.

IMF Staff Papers, Volume 52, No. 3
IMF Staff Papers, Volume 52, No. 3

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2005-12-22

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1589064755

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This last issue for 2005 comprises seven new papers, including a contribution to the journal's occasional Special Data Section about domestic debt markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, and also an in-depth look at the internal job market for entry-level economists at the IMF. The remaining articles cover toics as diverse as: modeling of asset markets, exchange rates in developing countries, international bank claims on Latin America, the effectiveness of "early warning" systems, and the use (by emerging market countries) of the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).

IMF Staff Papers, Volume 50, No. 2
IMF Staff Papers, Volume 50, No. 2

Author: Mr.Robert P. Flood

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2003-07-11

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9781589062023

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This paper examines sources of economic growth in East Asia. The conventional growth-accounting approach to estimating the sources of economic growth requires unrealistically strong assumptions about either competitiveness of factor markets or the form of the underlying aggregate production function. The paper outlines a new approach utilizing nonparametric derivative estimation techniques that does not require imposing these restrictive assumptions. The results for East Asian countries show that output elasticities of capital and labor tend to be different from the income shares of these factors. The paper also explores the compensating potential of private intergenerational transfers.