This paper contributes to literature on the process of reform in Latin America. We study political economy aspects and the policy making process of reforms in what we identify as the five critical steps through the "life cycle" of a policy reform: the Planning, Dialogue, Adoption,...

This paper studies the interaction between different actors in the policy-making process of fiscal transfer reform in Colombia. To analyse this reform, we use the “life cycle of reform” framework. In that context, we follow critical phases in the reform process: planning, dialogue and...

In this paper we test the impact of elections on fiscal policy in Latin American economies in comparison to OECD countries over the period 1990-2006. We find that in Latin American countries, the average primary balance declines by an amount close to 0.7 per cent of GDP during an election year,...

• Trade barriers seriously distort patterns of international trade, allocation of resources, and economic growth. The total economic costs of the barriers are estimated to exceed $475 billion per annum • Partial reform, such as envisaged in the Uruguay Round, would yield benefits of $195...

This paper studies sovereign debt crises during the period 1993-2006 through the prism of the primary sovereign bond market. Two conclusions emerge. First, investment banks price sovereign default risk well before crises occur and before investors detect default risk. Between three and one years...

Political cycles represent a core issue for capital markets in developing and emerging countries. This paper analyses the intricate links between financial markets and emerging democracies and highlights changes in the ways analysts and investors react to political cycles in emerging markets....

The paper addresses two core questions: do investment banks’ recommendations have an impact on the allocation of portfolio flows in the emerging-markets asset class? Above all, are these recommendations related to the business of investment banks? In order to answer these questions, we...

Linkages between international trade and the domestic environment are receiving intensified scrutiny by researchers and policy makers alike. This is especially the case in developing countries, where trade can be a significant agent of change and growth. While trade policies are increasingly...

The Rural/Urban-North/South Model (RUNS) is a global applied general equilibrium model, with a focus on agriculture. RUNS was initially developed in the early 1980's and has been used throughout the 1980's to provide analyses of world agricultural trends and agricultural policies. Amongst other...

The practice of environmental regulation and assessment in developing countries faces many special challenges. Apart from popular misconceptions about negative links between environmentalism and economic growth, there are numerous practical limitations to appraising environmental conditions and...