Working Papers

July 1, 1993

Collection Lags and the Optimal Inflation Tax: A Reconsideration

Description: The observation that collection lags combine with inflation to erode fiscal revenues has long been a strong argument against seigniorage (Tanzi (1978)). However, with the exception of Dixit (1991), who used a general equilibrium model to reject this argument, the optimal tax literature has not analyzed how collection lags affect desired tax structures. In this paper, this issue is re-examined using an overlapping generations version of Dixit’s model. It is shown that depending on the specification of the collection cost function and the size of government spending in GDP, collection lags may increase, leave unchanged, or reduce the desired rate of inflation.

Notes: Also published in Staff Papers, Vol. 41, No. 1, March 1994.

July 1, 1993

Openness, Human Development, and Fiscal Policies: Effectson Economic Growth and Speed of Adjustment

Description: The model developed here postulates that learning through experience plays a critical role in raising labor productivity over time, with three major consequences. First, the steady-state growth rate (of output) becomes endogenous and is influenced by government policies. Second, the speed of adjustment to steady-state growth is faster, and enhanced learning further reduces adjustment time. Third, both steady-state growth and the optimal net rate of return to capital are higher than the sum of exogenous rates of technical change and population growth. Simulation results confirm the model’s faster speed of adjustment, while regression analysis explains a large part of divergent growth patterns across countries in terms of the extent of openness and human development and of the quality of fiscal policies.

Notes: Also published in Staff Papers, Vol. 41, No. 1, March 1994.

July 1, 1993

The Fiscal Abuse of Central Banks

Description: This paper reviews the fiscal activities that governments in a sample of 26 developing countries have obliged their central banks to undertake. In the main, these activities fall under five categories: (1) collecting seigniorage; (2) imposing financial restriction; (3) implementing selective credit policies; (4) undertaking foreign exchange operations at nonmarket-clearing prices; and (5) providing implicit or explicit deposit insurance at subsidized rates and recapitalizing insolvent financial institutions. Not all central banks engage in all these activities, but some central banks perform additional fiscal activities such as collecting taxes and running food procurement programs.

July 1, 1993

Political Feasibility and Investment in Economic Transformations

Description: The paper characterizes the feasibility of economic transformation as requiring the simultaneous attainment of macroeconomic stability, political support, and adequate private investment. Macroeconomic stability is defined as fiscal balance; political feasibility is related to the income gains and losses of different population groups; and private investment is linked to public “infrastructure” investment. The analysis illustrates that attainment of the multiple requirements for successful transformation may necessitate a “big push” with external financial and technical assistance. It also emphasizes the importance of the productivity gains achieved when workers are induced to make occupational choices consistent with their comparative advantages.

July 1, 1993

Sovereign Debt: A Survey of Some Theoretical and Policy Issues

Description: This paper surveys the literature on sovereign debt that deals with the issues of a country’s ability-to-pay, its willingness-to-pay, and the policy responses to the debt crisis of the 1980s. The existence of an ability-to-pay problem suggests a need for debt reduction, but plans for debt relief face potential incentive problems, and sovereign debt repurchases are not always a welfare maximizing method of debt restructuring. The paper synthesizes the main conclusions on these issues. With a willingness-to-pay problem, the potential penalties for debt repudiation are important in the endogenous determination of the repayment outcome. Penalties that are intertemporal in nature have different implications for debt repudiation than do intratemporal penalties. In addition, the asymmetric distribution of the costs of default can lead to a recurrent cycle of debt accumulation and default.

July 1, 1993

The Economic Reform Process in Russia

Description: Although various factors point to a more arduous and longer transition in Russia than in Eastern Europe, the broad policy approach should be similar. A necessary condition for effective macroeconomic stabilization is the imposition of hard budget constraints on enterprises. Financial assistance from the Government and the central bank to enterprises must be strictly controlled to ensure compatibility with both inflation objectives and the creation of incentives for reform. While Russia needs external financial assistance, it must be willing and able to pursue economic policies that ensure that the assistance has the desired effects, especially macroeconomic stability and systemic reform.

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June 1, 1993

Optimal Tariffs: Theory and Practice

Description: This paper examines the theory underpinning the design of optimal tariffs in a developing economy, and the experience of implementation of tariff reforms. A central issue is whether and when a case can be made for a uniform tariff structure. While theory advocates a differentiated tariff structure (except under a balance of payments objective), political economy considerations, inadequate information, and administrative convenience point to a minimally differentiated tariff structure. The experience of reform indicates that tariff structures are mainly influenced by income distribution and protection objectives. The ability to successfully reduce tariffs depends on measures taken to alleviate fiscal and balance of payments constraints.