Although most CIS and East Asian countries are de jure classified as free floaters, they de facto pursue (tight) dollar pegs. This paper emphasizes dollar denomination of short-term and long-term payment flows as reasons for exchange rate stabilization. Based on the analysis of "competitive...

The issues related to language education in the trilingual situation are discussed in this study, referring to the experience of the post-Soviet Jewish intelligentsia in Israel. While most immigrants to Israel since 1989 from the former USSR are of Jewish origin, their mother-tongue is neither...

Drawing on recent examples of corruption in the Baltics and former Soviet Union, this pamphlet analyzes the links between governance and corruption, and emphasizes the high economic cost that corruption exacts. The pamphlet outlines how the IMF is working with the countries of the former Soviet...

This paper investigates whether the linkages between economic growth in Russia and growth in other countries in the region have weakened over time, particularly following the 1998 Russian crisis. It specifies an econometric model that includes standard growth determinants as well as Russian...

The international community has sought to assist the development efforts of the CIS-7 countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The international financial institutions have played a leading role in these efforts. Despite considerable engagement with the governments of...

In this paper, we examine the rationale for dollar and euro pegging in Russia and the CIS. We consider macroeconomic stabilization and transaction costs for international trade as rationales for pegging to the euro. Dollarization of international assets and liabilities are examined as...

The paper analyzes the initial output decline in transition economies by estimating a crosssection model stressing two major factors-conflicts and the legacies of the Soviet period. We link the Soviet legacies in place at the outset of the transition to the subsequent path for the development of...