Front Matter Page

STAFF PAPERS

Norman K. Humphreys, Editor

James McEuen

Assistant Editor

Editorial Committee

Norman K. Humphreys, Chairman

Bijan B. Aghevli

Gerard Bélanger

Morris Goldstein

Hmesto Hemández-Catá

Peter S. Heller

Ronald A. Krieger

Anthony Lanyi

M. Ranji P. Salgado

Joanne Salop

V. Sundararajan

From the Foreword to the first issue:

Among the responsibilities of the International Monetary Fund, as set forth in the Articles of Agreement, is the obligation to “act as a center for the collection and exchange of information on monetary and financial problems,” and thereby to facilitate “the preparation of studies designed to assist members in developing policies which further the purposes or the Fund.” The publications of the Fund are one way in which this responsibility is discharged.

Through the publication of Staff Papers, the Fund is making available some of the work of members of its staff. The Fund believes that these papers will be found helpful by government officials, by professional economists, and by others concerned with monetary and financial problems. Much of what is now presented is quite provisional. On some international monetary problems, final and definitive views are scarcely to be expected in the near future, and several alternative, or even conflicting, approaches may profitably be explored. The views presented in these papers are not, therefore, to be interpreted as necessarily indicating the position of the Executive Board or of the officials of the Fund.

The authors of the papers in this issue have received considerable assistance from their colleagues on the staff of the Fund. This general statement of indebtedness may be accepted in place of a detailed list of acknowledgments.

Subscription: US$15.(X) a volume or the approximate equivalent in the currencies of most countries. Four numbers constitute a volume. Single copies may be purchased at $4.00, Special rates to university libraries, faculty members, and students: $7.50 a volume; $4,00 a single copy. Subscriptions and orders should be sent to:

Publications Unit

International Monetary Fund

Washington, D.C. 20431, U.S.A.

Telephone number: (202) 623-7430

Cable address: Interfund

EDITOR’S NOTE

The Editor invites from contributors outside the Fund brief comments (not more than 1,000 words) on published articles in Staff Papers. These comments should be addressed to the Editor, who will forward them to the author of the original article for reply. Both the comments and the reply will be published in the same issue of Staff Papers.

The term “country,” as used in this publication, may not refer to a territorial entity that is a state as understood by international law and practice; the term may also cover some territorial entities that are not states but for which statistical data are maintained and provided internationally on a separate and independent basis.

© 1986 by the International Monetary Fund International Standard Serial Number: ISSN 0020-8027

The U.S. Library of Congress has cataloged this serial publication as follows:

International Monetary Fund Staff papers — Internationa! Monetary Fund. v. 1- Feb. 950—[Washington] International Monetary Fund.

v. tables, diagrs. 23 cm.

Three no. a year. 1950–1977: four no. a year, 1978-

Text in English with summaries in English. French, and Spanish.

Indexes:

Vols. 1–27, 1950–80. 1 v.

ISSN 0020-8027 = Staff papers — International Monetary Fund.

1. Foreign exchange—Periodicals. 2. Commerce—Periodicals. 3. Currency question—Periodicals.

HG3810.15 332.082 53-35483