Person:
Gootjes, Bram

Profile Picture
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Degrees
ORCID
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated: February 19, 2025
Biography
Bram Gootjes is an Economist in the World Bank Group’s Prospects Group. Previously, he worked as a Researcher in the Department of Global Economics and Management at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Filters

2020 - 20253
Reset filters

Settings

Statistics
Citations

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    The Great Reversal: Prospects, Risks, and Policies in International Development Association (IDA) Countries
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-04-15) Chrimes, Tommy; Gootjes, Bram; Kose, M. Ayhan; Wheeler, Collette
    The 75 economies eligible for low-interest loans and grants from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) made notable progress against some important development objectives over the first two decades of this century. Despite this, on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, significant development gaps persisted, convergence of IDA country incomes with those of advanced economies was slowing, and some vulnerabilities were rising. The shock of the pandemic and subsequent overlapping crises has exacerbated the challenges facing these economies and led to a reversal in development: over 2020-24, per capita incomes in half of IDA countries—the largest share since the start of this century—have been growing more slowly than those of wealthy economies. One out of three IDA countries is poorer than it was on the eve of the pandemic. Poverty remains stubbornly high, hunger has surged, and amid fiscal constraints and rising investment needs, the development outlook could take an even bleaker turn—especially if weak growth prospects persist. IDA countries have several important demographic and resource advantages that could—if leveraged effectively—help close development gaps. Reaping the benefits of their advantages and meeting their investment needs will require them to undertake comprehensive policy measures to bolster fiscal and monetary frameworks, enhance human capital development, and improve the quality of institutions. These policies should be complemented with significant and consistent international financial support as well as strong cooperation on global policy issues.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Dynamic Effects of Fiscal Rules: Do Initial Conditions Matter?
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-19) Fatás, Antonio; Gootjes, Bram; Mawejje, Joseph
    Fiscal rules have been shown to support fiscal discipline by improving government budget balances and restraining the growth of debt. However, questions remain about what enhances their effectiveness and how certain conditions help to build the credibility needed for their survival and success. Using data from 108 countries between 1984 and 2012, this paper studies the dynamic effects of fiscal rule adoption. It shows that although fiscal rules generally improve the primary balance, their effects depend on the time horizon under consideration and the context of adoption. In advanced economies and countries with strong political institutions, the effects strengthen over time. Conversely, in emerging markets and developing economies—especially those with weaker institutions—their impact tends to fade as time passes. The findings highlight the critical role of economic conditions and consensus building at the time of adoption. Specifically, fiscal rules introduced in times of economic hardship or under highly concentrated political power are often less effective in the medium term.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Identifying Growth Accelerations
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-15) Gootjes, Bram; De Haan, Jakob; Stamm, Kersten; Yu, Shu
    This paper introduces a new method to identify output growth accelerations that integrates elements of both the “criteria-based” and “break-testing” approaches, which are prevalent in the literature. The proposed criteria do not impose a fixed length on growth accelerations, thus enabling duration analyses without relying on questionable statistical techniques for the identification of these accelerations. The findings show that growth accelerations last an average 13.4 years, albeit with significant variations in duration across regions. Initial conditions and contemporaneous domestic and external economic conditions all matter for the continuation of an acceleration, and changes in any single policy condition have less of an impact.