Digging deeper into the self-protection rationale for holding reserves, this paper examines the empirical link between reserve holding patterns and crisis vulnerability, comparing the pre- and post-Asian crisis periods, and across different groups of developing countries. Analyzing data for 51...

We develop a framework for economy-wide modelling of value-added tax systems. Our framework models a number of complexities of VAT systems as implemented by tax agencies. In particular, we model multiple rates, multiple exemptions, multiple degrees of refundability across commodity users, and...

It is well-known that along with Thailand's remarkable increase in real income per capita during 1985-2005, an increase in overall income inequality was observed. What is not documented in the literature is that, during the same time period, the gender earnings inequality declined considerably....

This paper uses bank-level data to investigate whether the impact of monetary policy on bank lending depends on the characteristics of Chinese banks during the period 1985-2007. We find that the impact of monetary policy on lending is weaker for larger banks and banks with lower levels of...

By the 1980s, Taiwan had gradually transformed itself from an economy in which labor was plentiful, while capital was in short supply, into an economy in which a surplus of capital was accompanied by a shortage of labor. For labor economists interested in rapidly evolving labor markets, there...

This paper examines the transmission mechanism of monetary policy in India. Considering the external constraints on monetary policy, it estimates a series of vector autoregression models to examine the effects of an unanticipated monetary policy tightening on the real sector. The empirical...

Japan's real exchange rate appreciation during the post-WWII manufacturing-led growth period has been regarded as a classical example of the Balassa-Samuelson effect. We choose the most conspicuous sub-period--1956-1970--to confirm the effect. Japan was in a rapid growth period under the U.S....

The chief objective of our paper is to highlight basic features of the Information Technology (IT) policies adopted by Indonesia and Thailand, and to evaluate the commitment of the monetary authorities and the overall performances of the IT regime. The results demonstrate that the IT regime in...

This paper analyses the potential benefits from reforms aimed at promoting domestic demand in the region, as well as the effects of slower growth in the US and the G3 (US, euro area, and Japan) on the members of the Executives' Meeting of East Asian-Pacific Central Bank (EMEAP). The analysis is...