The existing theoretical analysis of microfinance focuses on the nature of the loan contracts that mitigates the pervasive problems of moral hazard and adverse selection in the absence of physical collateral. We depart from the existing literature and draw attention to the role of missing or...

This paper provides a critical analysis of the current consensus on tax reform in developing countries in terms of both efficiency and equity objectives. Drawing on the recent theoretical advances it shows that the emphasis on value-added tax (VAT) as the main instrument for indirect taxation is...

This paper investigates the relationship between economic and social development. Contrary to the view of those who believe in the existence of a tradeoff between democracy and growth, the paper contends that consensus-building, open dialog and the promotion of an active civil society are key...

This paper is concerned with delineating conditions under which public financial policies have no real and/or price effects. In the absence of intergenerational distribution effects, public financial policy is irrelevant:an increase in government debt (whether indexed or not), an exchange of...

The oscillations in the general views on the prospects for the future, alternating between the despair of imminent and inevitable doom and the euphoria of an impending new millenium, have a remarkable regularity about them, perhaps matching that of the long business cycle. The nineteenth century...

This article grapples with the causes of India's microfinance crisis. By contrasting Bangladesh's highly successful Grameen model with the allegedly “universalizable” version of India's SKS Microfinance (which precipitated the crisis), trust or social capital is isolated — not just...