This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Mongolia’s overall economic performance was stronger than expected and broad based in 2004 and early 2005. Sectoral contributions to high growth included a rebound in the livestock sector from harsh winter shocks of 2000–01 and...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that the annual growth in Poland in 2004 reached 5½ percent, with a surge in growth in the run-up to European Union accession dissipating in the second half of 2004. Both domestic and net external demand contributed to the slowdown. Consumption and...

Which structural reforms affect the speed the regional convergence within a country? We found that domestic financial development, trade/current account openness, better institutional infrastructure, and selected labor market reforms facilitate regional convergence. However, these reforms have...

Several transition economies have undertaken fiscal decentralization reforms over the past two decades along with liberalization, privatization, and stabilization reforms. Theory predicts that decentralization may aggravate fiscal imbalances, unless the right incentives are in place to promote...

This paper depicts the agricultural policy reforms and structural changes in Bangladesh from independence to the present times. Bangladesh agriculture has experienced major structural changes and achieved major successes over the last three and a half decades. Reforms began in the late 1970s and...

This paper investigates the role that International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs and capacity building play in fostering structural reforms. To do so, we exploit two novel datasets on IMF capacity building and structural reforms available for over one hundred IMF member countries over the period...

Labor productivity levels in Bulgaria lag well behind that in the EU, weighing on the convergence process. Stronger productivity growth would allow Bulgaria to close the income gap with the EU average more quickly and to alleviate the structural problems in its labor market, reflected in its...

This paper describes the institutional changes that have induced a decline in the vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI) - defined as the share of sub-national own spending not financed through own revenues - in four European countries: Belgium, Italy, Norway, and Spain. The decline in VFI was achieved...

In Japan, intergenerational inequality in lifetime resources is substantial, with a heavier fiscal burden on the young than the old. Moreover, given the need for fiscal consolidation, the inequality is even worse than existing policy would suggest. However, this does not mean that fiscal...