This paper studies the puzzling lack of correlation between income and schooling in macro regressions. It is argued that the root of the puzzle is threefold. First, there is a problem of a proper definition of the way in which years of schooling should enter into a production function. Second,...

Corruption in customs administrations is a major problem in many African countries. Data from the period 1990-96 are used to examine several hypotheses concerning the determinants of customs fraud in Senegal and Mali. Statistical tests using product-by-product data support the widely held view...

The Chinese software industry is small and underdeveloped, compared with its computer and other information technology (IT) hardware industry and compared with India’s software industry. Yet, current status is not necessarily a good guide to future prospects, as China’s recent history amply...

In principle, the sovereign credit rating industry could help mitigate the congestion externalities common to world capital markets that arise from the failure of market participants to internalise the social cost of external borrowings. This would require that modifications in ratings on...

Japan is in the process of developing much closer economic ties with its Asian neighbours, at both the government and private-sector levels. While there is little official support in Japan for the creation of any formal regional integration scheme, there is evidence of Japanese behaviour leading...

Ce document analyse le rôle de la productivité globale des facteurs comme déterminant de la compétitivité des industries manufacturières sénégalaises. Il porte sur un panel de dix groupes d’industries manufacturières et couvre la période 1974-94. Après avoir estimé la fonction de...

The problems associated with structural stagnation, the debt crisis, and policy mismanagement have proved resistant to the procedures of balance-of-payments stabilization and structural adjustment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This paper considers the challenges...

In this study, we analyse extended periods of growth in Africa based on panel estimations from 27 African countries during the 1960-1996 period. Only a dozen of such rapid growth episodes are observable in Africa since 1960, and several of them eventually came to an end. We use all existing...

In recent years, academics and policy makers have emphasised the role of human capital formation in economic development. By creating human capital, countries become more attractive to private investment, both domestic and foreign. And through such investment, countries grow and prosper. Yet...

Latin American sovereign bonds represent a significant share of the emerging debt class (50 per cent by early 2001) and so have considerably shaped the dynamics of this market. Recent financial turmoil, contagion episodes and investors’ renewed concerns with debt default call for a better...