This paper argues that, in the absence of a strong membership incentive within the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), a top-down institutional convergence of CIS countries towards European standards – i.e. democracy and market economy – is unlikely to be successful. However, due to...

Formerly a favourite location for private capital inflows, Brazil was virtually cut off from further bank lending in the 1980s. The country's rating in secondary loan markets plummeted, and foreign direct investment dwindled. New external financing was replaced by an accumulation of interest...

Most Latin American countries have made considerable progress in implementing the core recommendations of the Washington Consensus. The comparison with fast-growing Asian countries shows, however, that higher and more broadbased growth can only be achieved with more comprehensive reforms which...

Stabilisierungsprogramme scheitern häufig an der fehlenden Glaubwürdigkeit der Regierungspolitik im In- und Ausland. Deshalb wird für Osteuropa eine Fixierung des nominalen Wechselkurses als Patentrezept empfohlen, um die Inflationsbekämpfung glaubwürdiger zu machen. Dieser Vorschlag hält...

Kiev is not so far away from Brussels as one might expect. Ukraine already performs quite well when compared to the other countries in the queue for entry into the EU. Especially the fiscal and external debt figures are better than in other countries. On the negative side, there is a...

Mexico's recent financial crisis, culminating in December 1994, threatens the positive effects of the substantial reforms that the country has implemented since 1985 by opening its real sector: first trade has been liberalized unilaterally, then Mexico has joined the GATT, the Uruguay Round, the...

International investors' enthusiasm with respect to growth prospects in Southeast Asia has been followed by panic. Both the outstanding economic performance of Southeast Asian economies and their ability to master adjustment challenges had led most observers of these economies to the conclusion...

Auf der Tagung des Europäischen Rates in Kopenhagen wurde der Beschluss gefasst, die EU nach Osten hin zu öffnen und assoziierte Länder Mittel- und Osteuropas sowie Malta und Zypern in eine erweiterte Gemeinschaft aufzunehmen. Der Beitritt zur EU wurde dabei von der Erfüllung politischer,...

Expectations about additional short-run gains from joining monetary union should not be too optimistic. Most of the expected gains from a monetary union are largely endogenous to credible, time-consistent domestic policies. Mere euro area membership is not a replacement for that. However,...

This paper provides a computable general equilibrium analysis of the medium to long-run impact of FDI inflows on poverty and income distribution in Bolivia. The simulation results suggest that FDI inflows enhance economic growth and reduce poverty. However, the income distribution typically...