This paper examines the dynamic impact of interest rate reforms on economic growth in Zambia—using two models in a stepwise fashion. In the first model, the efficacy of interest rate liberalization is examined by regressing the interest rate on the level of financial deepening. In the second model, the causal relationship between financial depth and economic growth is examined by incorporating ...

After the collapse of communism, Eastern and Southeastern European counties have experienced significant changes, especially in terms of transition to market economy was achieved through efforts of liberalization and elimination of all forms of national control. As a consequence, some of the social welfare states in the region, still anchored to the old forms of organization, faced serious diff...

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, is to provide an empirical analysis of the implementation of economic reforms in the areas of privatization, trade liberalization, and public expenditure priorities, using the Washington Consensus guidelines. Second, is to assess to continued viability of the Washington Consensus as a model for developing economies. The two methodologies used in thi...

Rapid growth and structural change have reduced poverty in East Asian economies. Income inequality has been low in Korea and Taiwan, but has risen in recent years with economic liberalization. In the Southeast Asian economies of Th ailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, poverty has declined, while income inequality trends have varied, rising most clearly in Th ailand. With its strengthened (private) p...

Since 1991, the city of Delhi in India has become a focal point of economic liberalization. Economic liberalization has been accompanied by local government efforts to attract both foreign and domestic investment, particularly in the service sectors of the economy. The attraction of investment has been achieved by spatial reconfiguration, pitting the interest of global and domestic capital agai...

This paper examines evidence of the effects of economic liberalization and globalization on rural resource degradation in developing countries. The principal resource effects of concern are processes of land use change leading to forestland conversion, degradation and deforestation. The main trends in globalization of interest are trade liberalization and economy-wide reforms in developing coun...

JULY/AUGUST 2003 75 Bekaert, Harvey, and Lundblad (BHL) are to be congratulated for producing another paper on equity market liberalizations in emerging markets, and it is a pleasure to discuss their work. Yet, there are three reasons why I may not be an impartial discussant: (i) Having devoted most of my fledgling career to the study of capital account liberalization in emerging markets, I am ...

This paper pulls together existing theory and evidence to assess whether international financial liberalization, by improving the functioning of domestic financial markets and banks, accelerates economic growth. The analysis suggests that the answer is “yes.” First, liberalizing restrictions on international portfolio flows tends to enhance stock market liquidity. In turn, enhanced stock market...

This paper explores the effects of general and agricultural trade openness on economic freedom and alongside with the quality of institutions, on income and poverty. Recent cross-country data for over 200 nations in global regions were used to estimate equations for income, poverty and economic freedom. Economic freedom appears to have positive impacts on income levels, which together with good...

The world has witnessed an unparalleled increase in trade liberalization over the last few decades. These have been accompanied by increasing concerns over economic growth and distributional impacts emerging from trade agreements. An applied literature has emerged to address ex-ante effects at both macroeconomic and household levels. This article contributes to this literature by analyzing the ...