This paper provides an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding the determinants of saving rates. In the context of this overview, the paper presents the main findings and contributions of the body of empirical research on saving determinants, complemented by the results of the...

Saving rates display considerable variation across countries and over time. This paper investigates the factors behind these broad saving disparities using a large cross-country time-series data set constructed for the World Bank Saving project. The paper assesses empirically the policy and...

This paper develops a macroeconomic general-equilibrium model fully parameterized for the Chilean economy. The model’s basic relations are derived from intertemporal optimization by a group of rational forward-looking agents. The model also adds critical real-world features – such as...

This paper reviews analytically and empirically the links between income distribution and aggregate saving. Consumption theory brings out a number of direct channels through which income inequality can affect overall household saving -- positively in most cases. However, recent political-economy...

This paper provides an empirical evaluation of external vulnerability using panel data methods for a worldwide sample of countries. Controlling for domestic conditions, the paper examines the growth volatility effects of outcome measures of trade and financial openness as well as four types of...

This paper explores empirically the role of risk and return factors in the observed evolution of net foreign asset positions of a large number of industrial and developing economies. The paper adopts a dynamic approach in which investors’ portfolios adjust gradually to their long-run...

How do countries hold their financial wealth? We construct a new database of countries’ claims on capital located at home and abroad, and international borrowing and lending, covering 68 countries from 1966 to 1997. We find that a small amount of capital flows from rich countries to poor...

FDI flows to developing countries surged in the 1990s, to become their leading source of external financing. This rise in FDI volume was accompanied by a marked change in its composition: investment taking the form of acquisition of existing assets (M&A) grew much more rapidly than investment in...

This paper provides an empirical evaluation of the influence of external conditions and international integration on growth performance, using panel methods for a large cross-country data set. Controlling for domestic conditions, the paper examines the growth effects of trade and financial...

Public investment and infrastructure spending are often singled out for drastic cuts at times of fiscal retrenchment. Fiscal austerity in Latin America during the 1980s and 1990s was characterized by a sharp contraction in infrastructure spending. In 5 of the 9 major Latin American countries,...