This book studies the impact of different sources of external finance on growth and development in different country contexts. An important finding of the study is that 'success' or 'failure' in the productive use of external and domestic financial resources cannot be explained on the basis of single factors such as external shocks or 'bad' versus 'sound' policies. Rather, they are outcomes of complex interactions between changes in exogenous factors (such as fluctuations in external finance and trade shocks), existing economic structures and the responses to shocks by domestic public and private sector agents. This finding also implies that there are no recipes in economic policy-making which are generally applicable; the 'best' policy has to be designed specifically for each country.

Between 1987 and 1990 Thailand experienced double-digit growth, fed by high capital inflows. This made Thailand one of the first developing countries to recover from the recession of the 1980s. Since 1990 growth and capital inflows have continued at a high level. The book makes a detailed study of the macroeconomic impact of capital inflows during recent years and during an earlier period when growth, and capital inflows, were high, in the late 1970s. It is shown that the results of the recent period are more sustainable than those of the earlier period, due to the differences in the nature of capital inflows, in external conditions, and in economic policies.

There are many challenges facing the economies of developing countries. Capital volatility, financial crises, aid, debt and the IMF are all issues that have received a great deal of attention over recent years. In International Finance and The Developing Economies , Graham Bird provides an essentially non-technical discussion of these issues, examining the underlying political economy and discussing the policy alternatives that are available.

This book is Volume 4 of the Proceedings of the 10th World Economic Congress held in Moscow in 1992 under the auspices of the International Economic Association. It considers various aspects of economic policy and development and issues in developing countries of domestic economic management and policy reform, under conditions of increased economic openness.

As the linchpin of the global financial system, the International Monetary Fund provides the balance of payments support, chiefly to developing countries, conditional on strict remedial policy measures. Its approach to policy remains highly controversial, however. While the Fund claims it has adapted, critics allege its policies are harshly doctrinaire, imposing hardships on already poverty-stricken people. For the critics, the half century of its existence is `fifty years too long' and radical change is essential. This book examines the arguments, tracing the extent of Fund adaption, presenting major new evidence on the consequences of fund programes, and considering its future role.

We analyze the medium-term macroeconomic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lock-down measures on low-income countries. We focus on the impact over the medium-run of the degradation of health and human capital caused by the pandemic and its aftermath, exploring the trade-offs between rebuilding human capital and the recovery of livelihoods and macroeconomic sustainability. A dynamic general equilibrium model is calibrated to reflect the structural characteristics of vulnerable low-income countries and to replicate key dimensions of the Covid-19 shock. We show that absent significant and sustained external financing, the persistence of loss-of-learning effects on labor productivity is likely to make the post-Covid recovery more attenuated and more expensive than many contemporary analyses suggest.

This volume contains the proceedings of a September 1987 conference and focuses on the North-South macroeconomic interactions.