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This paper considers institutional and structural factors associated with investment activity in a panel of up to 129 developed and developing countries. It introduces these factors to a standard neoclassical investment function for open economies, and find that financial development and institutional quality are reasonably robust determinants of cross-country capital formation, with latter displaying more stability in the sign and significance of its coefficient. Indeed, when endogeneity concerns are addressed more explicitly using external instruments, and both interactions and subsamples are considered, institutional quality tends to survive as the causal determinant of investment.

Debt Markets --- Economic Theory & Research --- Emerging Markets --- Environmental Economics & Policies --- Financial development --- Institutional quality --- Investment --- Investment and Investment Climate --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth

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The scope and complexity of international trading arrangements in the Middle East, as well as their spotty historical record of success, underscores the urgent need for an adequate understanding of the relative costs and benefits of participation in preferential trading arrangements and, more generally, of changes in domestic import regimes. This paper seeks to address this problem by providing estimates of the adjustment costs associated with two broad classes of hypothetical trade policy scenarios for Syria: participation in preferential trading arrangements, and changes in the domestic import regime. The authors find that the revenue consequences of the first scenario may be substantial. Their analysis of the second scenario suggests that the number of tariff bands can be reduced, while ensuring revenue neutrality, via the introduction of a value added tax of sufficient but reasonable size.

Common market --- Customs --- Debt Markets --- Economic Theory & Research --- Equilibrium --- Exports --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Free Trade --- Free trade area --- General equilibrium --- Import regime --- Import regimes --- Import taxes --- Imports --- International Economics and Trade --- International trade --- International Trade and Trade Rules --- International trading --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Tariff lines --- Tariff reform --- Trade adjustment --- Trade models --- Trade Policy --- Trade promotion --- Trade reform

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The scope and complexity of international trading arrangements in the Middle East, as well as their spotty historical record of success, underscores the urgent need for an adequate understanding of the relative costs and benefits of participation in preferential trading arrangements and, more generally, of changes in domestic import regimes. This paper seeks to address this problem by providing estimates of the adjustment costs associated with two broad classes of hypothetical trade policy scenarios for Syria: participation in preferential trading arrangements, and changes in the domestic import regime. The authors find that the revenue consequences of the first scenario may be substantial. Their analysis of the second scenario suggests that the number of tariff bands can be reduced, while ensuring revenue neutrality, via the introduction of a value added tax of sufficient but reasonable size.

Common market --- Customs --- Debt Markets --- Economic Theory & Research --- Equilibrium --- Exports --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Free Trade --- Free trade area --- General equilibrium --- Import regime --- Import regimes --- Import taxes --- Imports --- International Economics and Trade --- International trade --- International Trade and Trade Rules --- International trading --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Tariff lines --- Tariff reform --- Trade adjustment --- Trade models --- Trade Policy --- Trade promotion --- Trade reform

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This paper studies the factors associated with outbound bilateral mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity by firms located in emerging economies. The authors document recent trends in emerging market M&A flows, which have risen dramatically over the past decade, and explore the factors that may have contributed to this rise. They find distinct patterns for M&A deals according to whether the acquisition targets are in other emerging economies or advanced countries, and that these differences can be attributed to differing theoretical motivations behind foreign direct investment. The authors also consider the implications of their model for future M&A originating in the global South, in light of the global financial crisis of 2008.

Currencies and Exchange Rates --- Debt Markets --- Economic Theory & Research --- Emerging Markets --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Markets and Market Access --- Mergers and acquisitions --- Private Sector Development --- South-South capital flows

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This paper examines gross financial inflows to developing countries between 2000 and 2013, with a particular focus on the potential effects of quantitative easing policies in the United States and other high-income countries. The paper finds evidence for potential transmission of quantitative easing along observable liquidity, portfolio balancing, and confidence channels. Moreover, quantitative easing had an additional effect over and above these observable channels, which the paper argues cannot be attributed to either market expectations or changes in the structural relationships between inflows and observable fundamentals. The baseline estimates place the lower bound of the effect of quantitative easing at around 5 percent of gross inflows (for the average developing economy), which suggests that of the 62 percent increase in inflows during 2009-13 related to changing global monetary conditions, at least 13 percent of this was attributable to quantitative easing. The paper also finds evidence of heterogeneity among different types of flows; portfolio (especially bond) flows tend to be more sensitive than foreign direct investment to our measured effects from quantitative easing. Finally, the paper performs simulations that explore the potential effects of the withdrawal of quantitative easing on financial flows to developing countries.

Currencies and Exchange Rates --- Debt Markets --- Developing Countries --- Economic Theory & Research --- Emerging Markets --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Gross Financial Flows --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Mutual Funds --- Private Sector Development --- Quantitative Easing