The elderly in Russia have often been among those least able to cope with all the changes that have taken place during the transition. Unlike the situation prior to reform-when pensions were stable-they now face considerable uncertainty. If they have not been in poverty, many have been close to...

The elderly in Russia have often been among those least able to cope with all the changes that have taken place during the transition. Unlike the situation prior to reform - when pensions were stable - they now face considerable uncertainty. If they have not been in poverty, many have been close...

Buckley, Karaguishiyeva,Van Order, and Vecvagare analyze the structure of approaches to mortgage credit risk that are now being used in a number of OECD and transition economies. The authors'basic approach is to show how option pricing models can help measure and evaluate the risks of various...

The role of monetary balances in economic growth has long been a topic of macroeconomic research. This paper examines the role of real money balances in an aggregate production function of a developing economy, Colombia. Colombia is an interesting case to analyze for several reasons. First,...

This article examines loan terminations under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) reverse mortgage insurance program formally known as the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM). Demand for HECM loans is increasing and may continue to rise in the future as the baby...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two principal government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in the mortgage markets, have come to play an increasingly important role in the multifamily housing finance system. Newly available loan-level data, released as part of HUD's GSE oversight activities, are used...

Structural change is a key driver of rapid growth: countries diversify into new industries, firms learn new things, people move to new locations. Anything that slows this structural change is also likely to slow growth. Because urbanization is one of the most important enabling parallel...

By reviewing the Bank's experience with shelter lending, this paper seeks to address the question of whether the Bank has helped developing countries deal with the inevitable problems that arise with urbanization, particularly problems with the provision of shelter. It reviews the Bank's...

A recent study of house price behavior in U.S. cities by Gyourko, Mayer, and Sinai (2006) raises questions about so-called superstar cities in which housing is so inelastically supplied that it becomes unaffordable, as higher-income families outbid residents. We consider the case of Accra,...