Could a high-access, quick-disbursing ""insurance facility"" in the IMF help to reduce the incidence of sharp interruptions in capital flows (""sudden stops"")? We contribute to the debate around this question by analyzing the impact of conventional IMF-supported programs on the incidence of...

The IMF attempts to catalyze and stabilize private capital flows to emerging markets by providing public monitoring and emergency finance. In analyzing its role we contrast cases where banks and bondholders do the lending. Banks have a natural advantage in monitoring and creditor coordination,...

At the April 2003 meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committees, it was decided to further encourage the contractual approach to smoothing the process of sovereign debt restructuring by encouraging the more widespread use of collective action clauses (CACs) in international...

The domestic taxation of petroleum products is an important source of revenue in most countries. However, there is a wide variation of tax rates on petroleum products across countries, which cannot be explained by economic theory alone. This paper surveys different considerations advanced for...

This paper analyzes the factors affecting portfolio equity flows into India using monthly data. Flows to India are small compared to other emerging markets, but seem to be relatively less volatile. They also seem to be quite resilient. The paper shows that portfolio flows are determined by both...

In this paper a simple optimizing model is developed to analyze the implications of a banking crisis. Banks are incorporated by assuming that they intermediate funds between firms and households. It is shown that when depositors perceive the quality of deposits to have deteriorated, they switch...

With the virtual elimination of tariffs and quotas under GATT, antidumping measures emerged as a key instrument of protection. Under antidumping actions exporters can either raise the price to eliminate the dumping margin or pay an antidumping duty. This paper analyzes the incentives to...

Remittances to India have been growing rapidly since 1991, making it one of the largest recipients of remittances. This paper analyzes the determinants of remittances to India and finds that their growth over time can be explained by the increase in migration and total earnings of the migrants....

Do financial sector reforms necessarily result in expansion of credit to the private sector? How does bank ownership affect the availability of credit to the private sector? Empirical evidence is somewhat mixed on these issues. We use the Indian experience with liberalization of the financial...

Using aggregate and bank level data for several countries, the paper studies what happens to the banking system in the aftermath of a banking crisis. Contemporary crises are not accompanied by declines in aggregate bank deposits, and credit does not fall relative to output, although the growth...