The Smithsonian Agreement was the understanding by which the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). . .

TheRDBs, likemost multilateral development banks, are confrontedwith multifaceted challenges from a changing environment and the evolving financing needs of their members. . .

The RDBs’ mandate has evolved over time, as has the rationale for development finance.

Regional development banks (RDBs) play a critical role in the international financial architecture.

Given the experiences of emerging and transition economies what has been the experience of big bang versus gradualism? The question is not easy to answer. . .

We can summarize this discussion by considering the costs and benefits of gradual reform. The most important cost is simply the delay in improved performance. 

A big bang strategy involves high reversal costs, which are often considered to be an advantage ex post since they reduce the reversibility of enacted reforms. . .

An important debate in the literature on policy reform concerns the dimensionality of reform: Shall reform be piecemeal or comprehensive? In the literature on economic transition. . .

Fernandez and Rodrik (1991) developed a model of status quo bias in reform that has become classic in the literature.

Policy reforms create winners and losers. Hence, implementation of policy reforms requires attention to political economy.