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Abstract:
External debt burdens have forced sub-Saharan African countries to divert scarce resources from health, education, and other pressing social needs in order to pay debt service. Despite bearing heavy social costs for two decades, most countries in the region have become ever more deeply indebted. To a large extent, their plight stems from the fact that the original loans often were not used productively. Instead borrowed funds were captured by African political elites and channeled abroad as capital flight. Responsibility for the resulting transformation of public liabilities into private assets falls not only on past African governments, but also on their private and official creditors. One way to resolve to Africa's present debt crisis would be to cancel all debts. But apart from the political impediments to such a solution, this would simply set the stage for a new round of borrowing, capital flight, and eventual crisis. An alternative strategy is for African governments to repudiate debts selectively, by invoking the doctrine of "odious debt" in international law to reject responsibility for the repayment of loans whose proceeds were diverted abroad. In addition to easing today's debt burdens, this strategy would promote more responsible lending in future years.

Abstract:
Disaster-vulnerability reduction is an impure public good: When provided to one it is provided to others, but not equally provided to all. This means that in addition to the question of how much disaster-vulnerability reduction to provide, policy makers face the question of to whom it should be provided. This essay distinguishes between two broad classes of approaches to the latter question, one based on wealth, the other on rights.

natural disasters, technological disasters, risk allocation, disaster vulnerability, rights

Abstract:
We investigate the determinants of capital flight from 30 sub-Saharan African countries, including 24 countries classified as severely indebted low-income countries, for the period 1970-1996. The econometric analysis reveals that external borrowing is positively and significantly related to capital flight, suggesting that to a large extent capital flight is 'debt-fueled'. We estimate that for every dollar of external borrowing in the region, roughly 80 cents flowed back as capital flight in the same year. Capital flight also exhibits a high degree of persistence in the sense that past capital flight is correlated with current and future capital flight. The growth rate differential between the African country and its OECD trading partners is negatively related to capital flight. We also explore the effects of several other factors - inflation, fiscal policy indicators, the interest rate differential, exchange rate appreciation, financial development, and indicators of the political environment and governance. We discuss the implications of the results for debt relief and for policies aimed at preventing capital flight and attracting private capital held abroad.

capital flight, debt, sub-Saharan Africa, debt relief, capital control

Abstract:
This paper presents estimates of capital flight from 25 low-income sub-Saharan African countries in the period 1970 to 1996. Capital flight totaled more than $193 billion (in 1996 dollars); with imputed interest earnings, the accumulated stock of flight capital amounts to $285 billion. The combined external debt of these countries stood at $178 billion in 1996. Taking capital flight as a measure of private external assets, and calculating net external assets as private external assets minus public external debts, sub-Saharan Africa thus appears to be a net creditor vis-a-vis the rest of the world.

Abstract:
Social and economic inequalities can influence both the distribution of the costs and benefits from environmental degradation and the extent of environmental protection. When those who benefit from environmentally degrading economic activities are powerful relative to those who bear the costs, environmental protection is generally weaker than when the reverse is true. This can lead to environmental inequalities along lines of class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age. At the same time, inequalities may affect the overall extent of environmental quality. There are good theoretical reasons to expect inequalities to reduce environmental protection and exacerbate environmental degradation. The available empirical evidence generally is consistent with this expectation.