This paper examines the extent to which Pakistan's growth has been, or is likely to be, constrained by its balance of payments. Evidence presented suggests that Pakistan's maximum growth rate consistent with equilibrium on the basic balance is approximately 5% per annum. This is below the long-term target GDP growth rate of 7–8% per annum. This balance-of-payments constrained growth approach provides ...

This paper will examine the level of services trade integration in Asia in comparison with Europe and North America. The main empirical findings of this paper are that: (i) the regional bias of services trade in Asia is as high as or higher than in Europe and North America; (ii) in Asia, the regional bias of services trade is higher than that of goods trade, which is in sharp contrast to Europe and ...

The paper proposes a method that refer toa s the 'multiple mirror technique'. By conducting a cross-check of the results of various bilateral mirror analyses, we are able to identify the magnitude of the misclassification committed on the side of the test country. By applying the multiple mirror technique, the paper focuses specifically on the inaccuracy of trade statistics caused by two types of ...

This article focuses on directions in reshaping accountability mechanisms in multilateral development banks and other organizations. The term ‘accountability mechanisms’ refers to avenues for private individuals and groups to file claims against the institution for redress of their grievance on poorly designed and/or implemented projects. Since 1993, accountability mechanisms have, over the years, ...

This paper focuses on post-Soviet regional integration as a special case where integration projects are established by countries that originally comprised a single political entity after its collapse. It shows that in this framework the existing economic ties between countries are likely to affect adversely the interest of functional bureaucracy to support regional integration given that cutting ...

This paper develops a methodology to measure the impact of price changes on poverty measured by an entire class of additive separable poverty measures. This impact is captured by means of the price elasticity of poverty. The total effect of changes in price on poverty is explained in terms of two components, income and distribution effects. The income effect measures the change in poverty when all ...

The close linkages between climate change adaptation and development have led to calls for addressing the two issues in an integrated way. ‘Mainstreaming’ climate information, policies and measures into ongoing development planning and decision-making has been proposed as one solution, seen as making more sustainable, effective and efficient use of resources than designing and managing climate ...

In this paper, we examine the differences in the measures of: (i) profits of an enterprise obtained from a detailed set of questions on incomes and expenses of the enterprise, versus profits obtained through a single direct question; and (ii) gross value added (GVA) obtained using the production approach as the difference between output and intermediate consumption from a detailed set of questions ...

The paper considers the optimal transition path for China's exchange rate regime. How can China successfully make the shift from the current dollar peg regime to a more desirable regime, whether a basket peg or a floating regime? To answer this question, we develop a dynamic small open economy general equilibrium model. We construct four transition policies based on a basket peg or a floating regime ...

In the present study, we develop a stochastic frontier production model that allows for different groups of firms to have different patterns of technical efficiency over time. We apply our model to the Malaysian manufacturing sector to decompose total factor productivity growth into technical efficiency change and technical progress for different plant size groups (e.g. large and small) in seven ...