World Bank adjustment lending and economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s: a comparison of early adjusters, late adjusters, and nonadjusters

Ibrahim A. Elbadawi

No 1001, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Using a methodology that allows for endogenizing decisions to participate in World Bank adjustment lending programs, and for testing the validity of assumptions about program participation, the author studies the effectiveness of these programs in sub - Saharan Africa. He shows that adjustment programs in sub - Saharan Africa had no statistically significant effect on growth in the second half of the 1980s, compared with the first half, but they have had a significant and deleterious effect on investment. Adjustment lending has significantly improved export performance in sub - Saharan Africa, at least compared with nonadjusting African countries. The perceived increases in export competitiveness and in the efficiency of investment (supposed to be generated by reform programs) has not been sufficient to counterbalance the ensuing decline in investment and hence to restore economic growth in sub - Saharan Africa. These findings must be qualified: the methodology for classifying countries as adjusting or nonadjusting does not allow for different degrees of implementation - so, strictly speaking, the findings reflect an assessment of the effectiveness of a proxy (adjustment lending) for the adjustment programs.

Keywords: Economic Theory&Research; Environmental Economics&Policies; Achieving Shared Growth; Economic Stabilization; Economic Conditions and Volatility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1992-10-31
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSC ... d/PDF/multi0page.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1001

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Roula I. Yazigi ().