This book highlights the basic principles of monetary economics and their application to developing countries. Fully illustrated and written in an accessible style, it will be an attractive to students wanting to understand the economic aspects of development and those researching in the area The new edition includes four entirely new chapters, with material on financial crises, the debates surrounding inflation targeting, and examination of the role and future of financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the IMF.

The third edition of the widely usedIntroduction to Development Economicsprovides a detailed analysis of the major economic issues confronting less developed countries. Throughout, Subrata Ghatak maintains a balance between theories of economic growth and the realities of economic development. Although the basic principles remain unchanged, the past few years have witnessed changes in emphasis and the rise of new areas of interest. Such issues include development and the environment, the international debt crisis, endogenous growth, the impact of foreign aid, fiscal reforms, migration, human capital accumulation and the problems of trade liberalization. Introduction to Development Economicsis divided into four sections and is written in a straightforward style. This is a comprehensive analysis of the area, with many tables added to provide up-to-date statistical data and technical data in the appendices.

Central banks in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs) have been modernizing their monetary policy frameworks, often moving toward inflation targeting (IT). However, questions regarding the strength of monetary policy transmission from interest rates to inflation and output have often stalled progress. We conduct a novel empirical analysis using Jordà’s (2005) approach for 40 EMDEs to shed a light on monetary transmission in these countries. We find that interest rate hikes reduce output growth and inflation, once we explicitly account for the behavior of the exchange rate. Having a modern monetary policy framework—adopting IT and independent and transparent central banks—matters more for monetary transmission than financial development.

Over the past two decades, many low- and lower-middle income countries (LLMICs) have improved control over fiscal policy, liberalized and deepened financial markets, and stabilized inflation at moderate levels. Monetary policy frameworks that have helped achieve these ends are being challenged by continued financial development and increased exposure to global capital markets. Many policymakers aspire to move beyond the basics of stability to implement monetary policy frameworks that better anchor inflation and promote macroeconomic stability and growth. Many of these LLMICs are thus considering and implementing improvements to their monetary policy frameworks. The recent successes of some LLMICs and the experiences of emerging and advanced economies, both early in their policy modernization process and following the global financial crisis, are valuable in identifying desirable features of such frameworks. This paper draws on those lessons to provide guidance on key elements of effective monetary policy frameworks for LLMICs.

This is the first comprehensive study in the context of EMDEs that covers, in one consistent framework, the evolution and global and domestic drivers of inflation, the role of expectations, exchange rate pass-through and policy implications. In addition, the report analyzes inflation and monetary policy related challenges in LICs. The report documents three major findings: In First, EMDE disinflation over the past four decades was to a significant degree a result of favorable external developments, pointing to the risk of rising EMDE inflation if global inflation were to increase. In particular, the decline in EMDE inflation has been supported by broad-based global disinflation amid rapid international trade and financial integration and the disruption caused by the global financial crisis. While domestic factors continue to be the main drivers of short-term movements in EMDE inflation, the role of global factors has risen by one-half between the 1970s and the 2000s. On average, global shocks, especially oil price swings and global demand shocks have accounted for more than one-quarter of domestic inflation variatio--and more in countries with stronger global linkages and greater reliance on commodity imports. In LICs, global food and energy price shocks accounted for another 12 percent of core inflation variatio--half more than in advanced economies and one-fifth more than in non-LIC EMDEs. Second, inflation expectations continue to be less well-anchored in EMDEs than in advanced economies, although a move to inflation targeting and better fiscal frameworks has helped strengthen monetary policy credibility. Lower monetary policy credibility and exchange rate flexibility have also been associated with higher pass-through of exchange rate shocks into domestic inflation in the event of global shocks, which have accounted for half of EMDE exchange rate variation. Third, in part because of poorly anchored inflation expectations, the transmission of global commodity price shocks to domestic LIC inflation (combined with unintended consequences of other government policies) can have material implications for poverty: the global food price spikes in 2010-11 tipped roughly 8 million people into poverty.

Developing countries now use monetary policy as part of their adjustment programmes but its targets, the tools, and the theory were developed for advanced countries. Low income countries do not have the sophisticated financial sectors that rich ones can assume, and the shocks and size of adjustment which they face may be much greater. Using six country studies, with special analysis of the roles of the external sector and the informal financial sector, this book analyses the interaction among monetary policy, the financial sector, and development.

The Macroeconomics of Developing Countries provides a comprehensive discussion of the exogenous factors and macroeconomic policies that affect the business cycle, long term growth, and distribution of income in developing countries. It examines countries dependent on natural resources and affected by supply rigidities in agriculture. They also feature dualistic markets, a large informal sector, rapid population growth, a vulnerable export sector, and chronic dependence on a volatile global finance. The Macroeconomics of Developing Countries uses these examples to analyse the impact of stablization and adjustment politices on growth, inequality, and poverty. Despite the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals there is little consensus on how macroeconomic policies can be consistent with these objectives. The Macroeconomics of Developing Countries demonstrates that a critical application of standard models to developing countries can generate erroneous results and induce the adoption of incorrect policy. In order to address this, it discusses the key structural differences between advanced and developing countries in order to justify the construction of alternative models.