This paper argues that asset price cycles have significant effects on fiscal outcomes. In particular, there is evidence of debt bias—the tendency of debt to increase over the cycle— that is significantly larger for house price cycles than stand-alone business cycles. Automatic stabilizers...

This paper shows the relevance of physical infrastructure and financial development for developing countries attractiveness to private capital (Foreign Direct Investments -FDI- and portfolio investments). Contrary to other studies, this analysis is based on “push-pull factors” and the...

This article uses the push-pull factors approach to analyze the determinants of private capital flows (foreign direct investments, portfolio investments, and debt) in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) over the period 1970-2003. The results show that (i) infrastructure, trade...

Using a one-step stochastic frontier model for five developing countries (Brazil, Morocco, Pakistan, South Africa, and Vietnam), we show that foreign firms benefit from a better investment climate, which significantly explains why they are more efficient than local firms. Unlike former studies,...

Combining the classical “push-pull factors” and the “Lucas paradox” theoretical approaches, and taking into account the relationship between components of capital flows -through Three Stage Least Square (3SLS) estimations-, this paper shows that physical infrastructure and financial...

This paper analyzes characteristics of nonfarm enterprises, their employment growth patterns, and constraints in doing business in rural Tanzania. Using unique survey data, the we describe a low-return sector struggling to compete in a challenging business environment. However, about one-third...

This paper analyzes the effects of buy and hold investors on security price dynamics in a pure-exchange, continuous-time model. Empirical studies suggest that many defined contribution plan participants follow buy and hold strategies by rarely changing asset and flow allocations due to...

Poyang Lake suffers from a severe shortage of water, due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam and other hydropower stations along the upper Yangtze River. In this paper, we propose a two-sector endogenous growth model to investigate the effects of extractive water use and impoundment...