Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

10-1-1994

Series

Policy Research Working Paper

First Page

1

Last Page

22

Publisher

The World Bank

Place of Publication

Washington, D.C.

Keywords

Structural adjustment, Sub-Saharan Africa, Macroeconomic policy

Abstract / Description

After a prolonged period of economic stagnation, many Afncan countries committed themselves in the mid-1980s to a series of adjustment policies aimed at restoring economic growth. Now, almost a decade into adjustment, Africa's economic climate still remains unclear and uncertain, with the overall results modest relative to original expectations. Although some countries have enjoyed a resurgence of growth, the economic performance of the region as a whole has been disappointing, raising troubling questions about the extent and efficacy of policy reform efforts. Previous studies of structural adjustment have focused on cross-sectional and aggregate performance of a group of countries that have taken adjustment loans from the World Bank and the IMF. Few empirical studies have actually measured the extent to which policies have, in fact, been implemented by the countries themselves and then related changes in policies to subsequent economic performance. To fill this gap, a recent World Bank study^ examined in depth how much adjustment has taken place and how successful it has been in Afncan countries. This study—Africa Adjustment Study (AAS)-compares the policies and performance of 29 Sub-Saharan African countries during two periods: from 1981 to 1986, when most Afncan countries were in economic crisis, and from 1987 to 1991, when these countries adopted structural adjustment programs. This study was supplemented by case studies of seven countries’ Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania—that undertook adjustment programs during the mid-1980s. The period covered by these case studies ends, for most countries, in 1991. The countries were chosen to capture a variety of characteristics and initial conditions. In all seven countries, adjustment programs addressed such distortions as an overvalued exchange rate, high current account and fiscal deficits, low factor mobility, restrictions on domestic and foreign trade, distorted pricing for tradables, and inefficient public services.

Comments

Published as World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 1365, Africa Regional Office, Office of the Chief Economist, October 1994. IH0074

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