As one of the most pioneering development economists, Hans Singer has stimulated many of the ideas that have engaged the attention of the world community for several decades. Not only has he helped to form an understanding of the problems of developing countries, but he has also shown what might...

What can microfinance contribute to the creation of employment and the increase in well-being of the population? We argue that microfinance has an important benefit for the poor, particularly for subsistence entrepreneurs, as a means of handling shocks and smoothing income. By helping to assure...

"Do firms in developing countries shift trade towards developed economies as a result of high economic growth? The matched customs-manufacturing firm data used in this study confront this hypothesized link with empirical evidence. Our analysis reveals a rising low-income country trade share...

Why is GDP so much more volatile in poor countries than in rich ones? To answer this question, we propose a theory of technological diversification. Production makes use of different input varieties, which are subject to imperfectly correlated shocks. As in endogenous growth models,...

This paper endeavours to provide a comprehensive analysis of the nature and the possible importance of “global excess liquidity”, a concept which has attracted considerable attention in recent years. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, we present some conceptual discussion on...

The reaction of exports to real exchange rate movements can differ according to the nature of the destination country. We derive and estimate a gravity equation for 20 OECD exporting countries and 52 developed and developing importing countries. We test how trade costs dampen the effect of real...