Causal relationship between domestic credit and international reserves: The experience of developing countries

Three causality tests, Haugh, Granger and Sims are used to determine the nature of causal relationship between the components of monetary base of India, Malaysia, Mexico and Taiwan. The conclusion derived is that bidirectional causality exists between the changes in domestic credit and changes in international reserves for all four countries.

Estimates of the unreported economy in India

This paper presents estimates of India's unofficial economy on a yearly basis for the period 1967 to 1978. These estimates implicitly revise the GNP, per capita and other related statistics for this period. The technique employed has been recently used to determine the size of the unreported economies in U.S.A. and Canada. The results indicate that the unreported activity as a proportion of official GNP has grown from 9.5 per cent in 1967 to nearly 49 per cent by 1978. High taxes have contributed significantly to the growth of the unofficial economy. A 1 per cent increase in overall taxes leads to more than 3 per cent increase in the unofficial economy relative to the official economy.

On managing adjustment to external shocks in oil importing developing countries

This paper employs country specific multisectoral general equilibrium models of Turkey, Kenya and India to study the adjustment problems confronting these countries. The affects of liberal and interventionist policies on GDP and on incomes of different classes are analysed. The results show that liberal policies minimise the GDP losses and that farmers are relatively better off under these policies.

A test of the efficiency of futures markets in commodities

The role of the futures markets in stabilising spot prices has been widely discussed. However, the success of these markets in performing the stabilising function critically depends on whether they are efficient (Fama 181, page 383) in the sense that the futures prices fully reflect the available information. The question of futures market efficiency has assumed greater relevance in view of the recent UNCTAD proposals to stabilise the prices of primary commodities exported mainly by the developing countries. The Integrated Programme for Commodities put forward by the Group of 77 at UNCTAD IV in 1976 calls for the establishment of buffer stocks for 18 such commodities. The recent developments show, however, that the political as well as the economic success of the UNCTAD schemes is rather doubtful. Under these circumstances, the feasibility of other efficient market oriented alternatives for stabilising commodity prices needs to be examined. Further, it could be argued that theoretically the case for buffer stocks for stabilising prices rests in part on the lack of sufficient and rational speculators in these markets. For, if futures markets reflect the available information and provide efficient forecasts of the future spot prices, the rationale for UNCTAD schemes is somewhat weakened. In this paper, we test the efficiency of futures markets for five of the commodities in the UNCTAD list. At the outset, we discuss various approaches for testing the efficiency of futures markets. A semi-strong' test is then performed. The data, the models and the results are presented in sections III through V. The concluding comments and the economic implications are discussed in the last section.

Causal relationship between domestic credit and international reserves: The experience of developing countries

Three causality tests, Haugh, Granger and Sims are used to determine the nature of causal relationship between the components of monetary base of India, Malaysia, Mexico and Taiwan. The conclusion derived is that bidirectional causality exists between the changes in domestic credit and changes in international reserves for all four countries

Enhancing effective utilization of aid in fragile states

This paper explores the macroeconomic implications of aid flows in countries with weak institutions. It argues that these countries should take into account their overall macroeconomic position, their capacity to absorb aid at the sectoral and subnational levels, and the strength of their fiscal institutions in deciding how much and how fast to spend aid. These considerations may warrant a gradual use of aid, except when aid is provided for humanitarian purposes. There is some basis for frontloading spending for countries emerging from a conflict, otherwise fragile states should seek to smoothen their spending against the background of aid volatility and uncertainty

Estimates of the unreported economy in India

This paper presents estimates of India's unofficial economy on a yearly basis for the period 1967 to 1978. These estimates implicitly revise the GNP, per capita and other related statistics for this period. The technique employed has been recently used to determine the size of the unreported economies in U.S.A. and Canada. The results indicate that the unreported activity as a proportion of official GNP has grown from 9.5 per cent in 1967 to nearly 49 per cent by 1978. High taxes have contributed significantly to the growth of the unofficial economy. A 1 per cent increase in overall taxes leads to more than 3 per cent increase in the unofficial economy relative to the official economy