International financial integration allows countries to become net creditors or net debtors with respect to the rest of the world. In this paper, we show that a small set of fundamentals-shifts in relative output levels, the stock of public debt and demographic factors-can do much to explain the...

Given China’s impending membership of the WTO, this paper makes a first attempt to predict China’s negotiating strategy in the current agricultural trade negotiations in the light of its food policy objectives, trade position and its accession offer on agriculture. China’s interests with...

In this paper, we study the determinants of cross-country variation in the level of international reserves over 1981-95. Confirming intuition, trade openness is easily the most important variable. There is also some evidence that financial deepening is associated with an increase in the reserves...

Although capital flows are closely monitored, surprisingly little is known about the accumulated stocks of foreign assets and liabilities held by various countries, especially in the developing world. This paper constructs estimates of foreign assets and liabilities and their equity and debt...

This paper documents the size and timing of the world inter-continental trade boom following the greate voyages in the 1490s of Columbus, da Gama and their followers. Indeed, a trade boom followed over the subsequent three centuries. But what was its cause? The conventionnal wisdom in the world...

This paper reviews the demands of developing countries in the new round of WTO agricultural negotiations which began in Geneva in March 2000 based on the submissions to the Special Session up to November 2000. Two issues of principle are identified. The first is the developing country demand for...