We develop a simple macroeconomic model that assesses the effects of higher foreign aid on output growth and other macroeconomic variables, including the real exchange rate. The model is easily tractable and requires estimation of only a few basic parameters. It takes into account the impact of...

This paper finds convergence of real per capita GDP in Mexico’s states and regions during the period of higher average national per capita growth (1970-85), and divergence during the lower-growth period (1985-93). These results hold across states and regions and within regions. The poorest...

This paper evaluates the growing literature on whether devaluation has contractionary effects on output in developing countries. It explores the nature of the links between the exchange rate and real output within a unified, fairly general analytical framework which incorporates a number of the...

This paper provides evidence of the causal impact of oil discoveries on development. Novel data on the drilling of 20,000 oil wells in Brazil allows us to exploit a quasi-experiment: Municipalities where oil was discovered constitute the treatment group, while municipalities with drilling but no...

Per capita output is more volatile in middle-income economies than in both low-income and high-income economies. We examine this pattern in a two-period overlapping generations model with two productive sectors (a developed sector and a subsistence sector) and a credit sector. In the early and...

The three main financial inflows to developing countries have largely increased during the last two decades, despite the large debate in the literature regarding their effects on economic growth which is not yet clear-cut. An emerging literature investigates the dependence of their effects on...

What role does China play in Africa''s development? What drives China''s increasing economic involvement in the continent? This paper attempts to provide a quantified assessment of China''s multifaceted influence as market, donor, financer and investor, and contractor and builder. Though in the...

Tanzania’s adjustment program, which began in the mid-1980s, was accompanied by a sharp increase in the levels of foreign assistance. Previous studies, using published data, have not reflected much improvement in economic performance during the reform period. This paper attempts to shed new...

Based on internal data, this paper finds that the capacity development program of the IMF's Statistics Department has prioritized technical assistance and training to fragile and conflict-affected states. These interventions have yielded only slightly weaker results in fragile states than in...

This survey describes the timing and main macroeconomic results of the ambitious structural reforms adopted by Chile in the middle and late 1970s and by Colombia almost a decade later in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These reforms have enabled both countries to maintain vigorous real growth...