Regionalization vs. Globalization

Regionalization vs. Globalization

Author: Mr.Hideaki Hirata

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2013-01-22

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1557753288

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Abstract: Both global and regional economic linkages have strengthened substantially over the past quarter century. We employ a dynamic factor model to analyze the implications of these linkages for the evolution of global and regional business cycles. Our model allows us to assess the roles played by the global, regional, and country-specific factors in explaining business cycles in a large sample of countries and regions over the period 1960–2010. We find that, since the mid-1980s, the importance of regional factors has increased markedly in explaining business cycles especially in regions that experienced a sharp growth in intra-regional trade and financial flows. By contrast, the relative importance of the global factor has declined over the same period. In short, the recent era of globalization has witnessed the emergence of regional business cycles.


Global Business Cycles

Global Business Cycles

Author: Mr.Ayhan Kose

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2008-06-01

Total Pages: 51

ISBN-13: 1451870019

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This paper analyzes the evolution of the degree of global cyclical interdependence over the period 1960-2005. We categorize the 106 countries in our sample into three groups-industrial countries, emerging markets, and other developing economies. Using a dynamic factor model, we then decompose macroeconomic fluctuations in key macroeconomic aggregates-output, consumption, and investment-into different factors. These are: (i) a global factor, which picks up fluctuations that are common across all variables and countries; (ii) three group-specific factors, which capture fluctuations that are common to all variables and all countries within each group of countries; (iii) country factors, which are common across all aggregates in a given country; and (iv) idiosyncratic factors specific to each time series. Our main result is that, during the period of globalization (1985-2005), there has been some convergence of business cycle fluctuations among the group of industrial economies and among the group of emerging market economies. Surprisingly, there has been a concomitant decline in the relative importance of the global factor. In other words, there is evidence of business cycle convergence within each of these two groups of countries but divergence (or decoupling) between them.


Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America

Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America

Author: Mr. Ravi Balakrishnan

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-04-26

Total Pages: 123

ISBN-13: 1484326091

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Over the past decades, inequality has risen not just in advanced economies but also in many emerging market and developing economies, becoming one of the key global policy challenges. And throughout the 20th century, Latin America was associated with some of the world’s highest levels of inequality. Yet something interesting happened in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. Latin America was the only region in the World to have experienced significant declines in inequality in that period. Poverty also fell in Latin America, although this was replicated in other regions, and Latin America started from a relatively low base. Starting around 2014, however, and even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, poverty and inequality gains had already slowed in Latin America and, in some cases, gone into reverse. And the COVID-19 shock, which is still playing out, is likely to dramatically worsen short-term poverty and inequality dynamics. Against this background, this departmental paper investigates the link between commodity prices, and poverty and inequality developments in Latin America.


South Asia Economic Focus, Fall 2013

South Asia Economic Focus, Fall 2013

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2013-10-14

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1464801185

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Global capital re-balancing has highlighted structural weakness and vulnerability in South Asia, acting as a wake-up call for policy makers. Given the recent economic turmoil across emerging market economies, this edition's focus section examines the relationship between the transmission of economic shocks from India to the rest of South Asia.


Globalization and Development

Globalization and Development

Author: José Antonio Ocampo

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 9780804749565

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Globalization and Development draws upon the experiences of the Latin American and Caribbean region to provide a multidimensional assessment of the globalization process from the perspective of developing countries. Based on a study by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), this book gives a historical overview of economic development in the region and presents both an economic and noneconomic agenda that addresses disparity, respects diversity, and fosters complementarity among regional, national, and international institutions. For orders originating outside of North America, please visit the World Bank website for a list of distributors and geographic discounts at http://publications.worldbank.org/howtoorder or e-mail [email protected].


The Long Shadow of Informality

The Long Shadow of Informality

Author: Franziska Ohnsorge

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2022-02-09

Total Pages: 397

ISBN-13: 1464817545

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A large percentage of workers and firms operate in the informal economy, outside the line of sight of governments in emerging market and developing economies. This may hold back the recovery in these economies from the deep recessions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic--unless governments adopt a broad set of policies to address the challenges of widespread informality. This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the extent of informality and its implications for a durable economic recovery and for long-term development. It finds that pervasive informality is associated with significantly weaker economic outcomes--including lower government resources to combat recessions, lower per capita incomes, greater poverty, less financial development, and weaker investment and productivity.


Panama

Panama

Author: International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2013-03-28

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 1484311027

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Panama’s per capita GDP has doubled, driven by a steady rise in public and private investment underpinned by a stable macroeconomic environment and prudent policies. Easy credit and fiscal conditions should continue to support public and private consumption. Further fiscal restraint through better tax administration and expenditure management and enhanced buffers would help cope with adverse spillovers. There is progress in implementing financial sector assessment program (FSAP) recommendations, though there is a need to upgrade financial sector supervision. Improvements in competitiveness and recent education reforms should help sustain growth over the medium term.


Central Banking in Latin America

Central Banking in Latin America

Author: Mr.Luis Ignacio Jácome

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 57

ISBN-13: 1484303180

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This paper provides a brief historical journey of central banking in Latin America to shed light on the debate about monetary policy in the post-global financial crisis period. The paper distinguishes three periods in Latin America’s central bank history: the early years, when central banks endorsed the gold standard and coped with the collapse of this monetary system; a second period, in which central banks turned into development banks under the aegis of governments at the expense of increasing inflation; and the “golden years,” when central banks succeeded in preserving price stability in an environment of political independence. The paper concludes by cautioning against overburdening central banks in Latin America with multiple mandates as this could end up undermining their hard-won monetary policy credibility.


Economía 2010

Economía 2010

Author: Roberto Rigobón

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2011-03-09

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 0815721595

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Journal of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association, Fall 2010 Contents: • Editors' Summary • Reforming Pensions: Lessons from Economic Theory and Some Policy DirectionsBy Nicholas Barr and Peter Diamond • Containing Systemic Risk: Paradigm-Based Perspectives on Regulatory ReformBy Augusto De la Torre and Alain Ize • Labor Market Rigidities and Informality in ColombiaBy Camilo Mondragón-Vélez, Ximena Peña, and Daniel Wills • Communicational Bias in Monetary Policy: Can Words Forecast Deeds?By Pablo Pincheira and Mauricio Calani