Finance & Development articles from March 2001

Finance & Development archives from March 2001

From the editor.
March 1, 2001... IT WILL soon be four years since the Asian financial crisis began with a run on the Thai baht. The crisis spread rapidly, affecting other financial centers throughout the region, and many observers expressed concern that the systemic impact...

Corporate Restructuring in East Asia: Promoting Best Practices.
March 1, 2001... A number of East Asian corporations, saddled with debt, nearly collapsed during the financial crisis of 1997. Many have managed to avoid both repayment and restructuring, however, and remain overly indebted and invested in unprofitable...

Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions in East Asia: Trends and Implications.
March 1, 2001... Mergers and acquisitions across national borders have increased in East Asia since the onset of the financial crisis. What has caused this new wave of mergers and acquisitions, what effects have they had, and what advantages might they offer to...

Japan: Population Aging and the Fiscal Challenge.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... With Japan facing a demographic crisis, government finances--stretched to the limit to keep the economy afloat--have to cope with the rising strain on public pension and health systems. This article looks at the economic and fiscal costs of...

The Financing of Private Enterprise in China.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... A 1999 survey of more than 600 private Chinese enterprises revealed that they relied primarily on self-financing. For China's private sector to thrive, firms will need increased access to external loan and equity financing. CHINA'S economy...

East Timor: Macroeconomic Management on the Road to Independence.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... East Timor's economy was seriously disrupted by widespread violence following the 1999 referendum in which its people voted for independence from Indonesia. With strong support from the international community, East Timor is reconstructing its...

How Will the Macroeconomy Be Managed in an Independent East Timor? An East Timorese View.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... ON AUGUST 30, 1999, the people of East Timor won the world's admiration for their commitment to democracy. More than 98 percent of registered voters defied intimidation to cast their ballots in an orderly and peaceful manner, voting...

The Pros and Cons of Expanded Monetary Union in West Africa.(Statistical Data Included)(Interview)
March 1, 2001... R.D. Asante and Paul Robert Masson talk with Jacqueline Irving of the IMF's External Relations Department SIX OF THE 15 members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)--The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and...

The Mystery Of Capital.(capital formation)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Why has the genesis of capital become such a mystery? And why have the rich nations of the world not explained to other nations how indispensable a formal property system is to capital formation? WALK DOWN most roads in the Middle East, the...

Globalization and the Work of Fiscal Termites.(erosion of tax systems)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Globalization is likely over time to have a significant negative impact on countries' ability to raise revenues through their tax systems. What steps can countries take to counter this problem? GLOBALIZATION and the consequent international...

The Unfinished Poverty Agenda: Why Latin America and the Caribbean Lag Behind.
March 1, 2001... Compared with East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have made very little progress in reducing poverty rates since the 1980s, largely because of sluggish growth. NEARLY 36 percent of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean...

Economic Stabilization in the Caribbean.
March 1, 2001... Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago simultaneously tackled serious economic difficulties in the early 1990s. The results of their adjustment programs demonstrate that fiscal reform, supported by other policies, may be the key to...

Securitization of Future Flow Receivables: A Useful Tool for Developing Countries.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... During financial crises, developing countries cannot obtain low-cost, long-term loans. Securitization of future flow receivables can help investment-grade public and private sector entities in these countries obtain credit ratings higher than...

Poland: Inequality, Transfers, and Growth in Transition.
March 1, 2001... Poland is one of the great success stories of transition. During the first decade of transition, it achieved high rates of GDP growth without a significant increase in income inequality. Poland's success can be attributed to its early...

The IMF's Dialogue with Nongovernmental Organizations.(International Monetary Fond)
March 1, 2001... RECENT financial crises and the growing income gap between rich and poor countries have fueled intense criticism of today's global economic and financial system. Much of this criticism is directed at the IMF, the World Bank, and the World Trade...

Money on the Move: The Revolution in International Finance Since 1980.(Review)
March 1, 2001... Robert Solomon Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1999, xiii + 210 pp., $29.95 (cloth). AS A DIRECTOR of the Federal Reserve Board's International Finance Division, a staff economist on the U.S. Council of Economic...

Distributive Justice and Economic Development: The Case of Chile and Developing Countries.(Review)
March 1, 2001... Andres Soilmano, Eduardo Aninat, and Nancy Birdsall (editors) University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2000, x + 206 pp., $49.50 (cloth). IT IS SAID THAT "timing is everything." In view of the considerable attention being...

Collapse: The Venezuelan Banking Crisis of '94.(Review)
March 1, 2001... Ruth de Krivoy Group of Thirty, Washington, 2000, [xv] + 281 pp., $40 (paper). ALTHOUGH MANY authors have studied the causes, consequences, and early indicators of banking crises, this book is unique for several reasons. It presents a...

Pensions, Savings and Capital Flows: From Ageing to Emerging Markets.(Review)
March 1, 2001... Helmut Reisen Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, United Kingdom/Northampton, Massachusetts, 2000, x + 277 pp., [pound]55/$90 (cloth). IN THIS book, Helmut Reisen, Head of the Research Division at the OECD Development Center, addresses some of...