A commonly-held view is that lending by the multilaterals (the IMF and the
World Bank) catalyses others to lend, including private capital markets and
official bilateral aid donors, To the extent that this view influences ref
orm of the multilaterals, it is important to know whether it is right or wr
ong. While there is a growing amount of aggregate econometric evidence that
calls into question the existence of the catalytic effect, there is always
the possibility that more disaggregated and country-specific research coul
d reveal nuances that are concealed by large-scale empirical work. This pap
er attempts to fill this gap by systematically examining the case study evi
dence relating to 17 developing countries non countries irt transition. The
overall conclusion is that it is difficult to find support for positive ca
talysis. Combined with other evidence, this mises fundamental doubts about
the current direction of international financial reform.