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2. Some data, such as the real exchange
rate index are not available for all countries
from the IFS. Neither are available the data 13
that could facilitate the construction of
the index for such countries. Such a constraint has therefore imposed the use of the
real exchange rate against the US dollar. This variable has been calculated by
adjusting the nominal exchange rate for relative consumer prices. Data constraint
has also influenced the choice of the sample period. While the period under
consideration for Mauritius separately is 1979 to 2002, for the pooled series the
period is only 1986 to 2000 due to missing figures from the International Financial
Statistics (IFS) 14
for the various cross section identifiers.
3. Some domestic financial data (e. g. non-performing loans) have been compiled by
the appropriate authorities only in recent years. This has prevented the use of such
data as an explanatory variable.
4. In the case of the financial corporate strategy model in Chapter 8 some
companies had to be dropped from the sample because of missing annual reports
from the office of the registrar of companies despite submission of such documents
being mandatory. In such cases efforts to get the infonnation directly from the
companies concerned were fruitless. Private firms in Mauritius are generally not
very collaborative in so far as providing information that one expects to have been
archived. Absence of a research culture in the country probably explains why firms
see only the associated
cost and not the potential benefits. The problem concerning
corporate data is that pre and post liberalisation comparison of corporate behaviour
13 Trade weights with respect to the respective trading partners.
14 Published by the INIT.
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