Capital inflow reversals, banking stability, and prudential regulation in Central and Eastern Europe

The authors show that capital inflows into the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)--inflows that are mainly private, debt-driven, and increasingly supplied by banks on a shortening maturity--are especially vulnerable to reversals. They show that the region's banking systems are disproportionately exposed to those reversals, and absorb the lion's share of bank-supplied inflows. They analyze the main links through which external finance turbulence is transmitted to the domestic banking industry, especially during the transition. Mechanisms for prudential regulation are in place in the region--and largely mimic the standards directed by the European Union--but the authors argue that these standards are insufficient for CEE countries. They base their arguments not on actual enforcement (a genuine concern) but on the fact that EU banking directives were designed for more stable economies and for banking systems less vulnerable to reversals in capital inflows. A strong case can be made, for CEE countries to overshoot those directives, at least until the transition is complete.Banks&Banking Reform,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Economic Theory&Research,Settlement of Investment Disputes,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring

The Rationale for Structural Adjustment: A Layman\u27s Guide

[abstract not provided]https://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_book_chapters/1925/thumbnail.jp

Is There a Latin-American Debt Crisis Building Up in Eastern Europe? A Comparative Analysis

This paper attempts to advance the analysis of Eastern Europe\u27s ongoing debt accumulation process by comparing it to the debt accumulation press that preceded the Latin American debt crisis of the early 1980s. The authors report on key country and international conditions in both situations and place Eastern Europe in the quantitative context of the Latin-American crisis-in-the-making of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This allows for the identification of some reassuring, as well as some worrisome, trends and for the drawing of some broad sustainability-related conclusions

Informality, Size, and Regulation: Theory and an Application to Egypt

The paper shows how, when the enforceability of regulations is size-sensitive, price competition can lock firms into informality and, thus, smallness, depending on the form of the production function. In that context, exogenous help packages targeted to informal firms promote micro and small enterprises (i.e., increase their numbers) but do not develop them (i.e., foster their growth). The help only generates a short-term span of abnormal profits for existing informal firms, and a long-term income transfer toward informal-market consumers. The model is tested in the context of Egypt\u27s micro and small enterprise sector

Managing Change and Master Plans: Machu Picchu Between Conservation and Exploitation

Machu Picchu is among the world\u2019s most controversial heritage sites. It represents a case where raising money through ticket sales and other activities, rather than an opportunity to fund site preservation, in fact constitutes a major threat to the survival of the site through overexploitation. Unesco has been very critical in recent decades about the management of Machu Picchu. International pressure resulted in the establishment of two master plans, in 1998 and in 2005. In this paper we investigate in depth the contents and rhetoric of the two plans, comparing changes in the two different versions, and linking the change in planning attitude to actual changes taking place in the site. This is also an opportunity to open a discussion on the interdisciplinarity of master plans in heritage sites

Is There a Latin-American Debt Crisis Building Up in Eastern Europe? A Comparative Analysis

The paper reports on an analytical comparison between the foreign debt build-up that preceded the 1982 debt crisis in Latin America and the current debt accumulation process taking place in Eastern Europe. In the whole, Eastern Europe's debt position seems more sustainable than Latin America's in the early 1980s. While the former is equally indebted and shows higher country concentration (around Russia), greater potential for fiscal impact, and no superior macroeconomic environment, its debts are less globally significant, have better repayment terms, are supported by better repayment capacities (in turn due to larger trade openness and virtually no capital flights), and are accumulating at a slower pace in a much more favorable international economic situation (faster growth in World-wide output and trade, and low and declining interest rates). This sets Eastern Europe apart from Latin America in the early 1980s but, of course, does not mean that its indebtedness is sustainable

Informality, Size, and Regulation: Theory and an Application to Egypt

The paper shows how, when the enforceability of regulations is size-sensitive, price competition can lock firms into informality and, thus, smallness, depending on the form of the production function. In that context, exogenous "help" packages targeted to informal firms "promote" micro and small enterprises (i.e., increase their numbers) but do not "develop" them (i.e., foster their growth). The "help" only generates a short-term span of abnormal profits for existing informal firms, and a long-term income transfer toward informal-market consumers. The model is tested in the context of Egypt's micro and small enterprise sector.Informality, Size, Regulation, Egypt, Hide-outs.

Is There a Latin-American Debt Crisis Building Up in Eastern Europe? A Comparative Analysis

This paper attempts to advance the analysis of Eastern Europe's ongoing debt accumulation process by comparing it to the debt accumulation press that preceded the Latin American debt crisis of the early 1980s. The authors report on key country and international conditions in both situations and place Eastern Europe in the quantitative context of the Latin-American crisis-in-the-making of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This allows for the identification of some reassuring, as well as some worrisome, trends and for the drawing of some broad sustainability-related conclusions.

Informality, Size, and Regulation: Theory and an Application to Egypt

The paper shows how, when the enforceability of regulations is size-sensitive, price competition can lock firms into informality and, thus, smallness, depending on the form of the production function. In that context, exogenours "help"packages targeted to informal firms "promote" micro and small enterprises (i.e., increase their numbers) but do not "develop" them (i.e., foster their growth). The "help" only generates a short-term span of abnormal profits for existing informal firms, and a long-term income transfer toward informal-market consumers. The model is tested in the context of Egypt's micro and small enterprise sector