Structural Reforms, IMF Programs and Capacity Building: An Empirical Investigation
September 21, 2012
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Summary
This paper investigates the role that International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs and capacity building play in fostering structural reforms. To do so, we exploit two novel datasets on IMF capacity building and structural reforms available for over one hundred IMF member countries over the period 1980 - 2010. The main results are threefold. First, there is a general association between IMF programs and structural reforms but this relationship is not very robust. Second, IMF training leads to an increase in structural reforms but only through IMF programs and only when a significant share of public servants is trained. Third, IMF technical assistance does not significantly lead to more structural reforms but raises the likelihood of completion of ongoing IMF programs. Our results are robust to a large number of checks, estimators and correcting for endogeneity.
Subject: Balance of payments, Capital account, Current account, Econometric analysis, Estimation techniques, Macrostructural analysis, Structural reforms
Keywords: Capacity Building, Capital account, Central and Eastern Europe, Current account, East Asia, Estimation techniques, IMF member country, IMF program, IMF program conditionality, IMF staff, IMF training, Structural Reform, Structural reforms, Sub-Saharan Africa, WP, yes
Pages:
29
Volume:
2012
DOI:
Issue:
232
Series:
Working Paper No. 2012/232
Stock No:
WPIEA2012232
ISBN:
9781475510706
ISSN:
1018-5941
