Empirical monetary policy research has increased in the last decade, possibly because deregulation and explicit monetary targets have made monetary policy issues more interesting. In particular, within the inflation targeting framework it has been argued that inflation forecasts can be used as...

The focus in this paper is on the monetary transmission mechanism in Italy and how it has changed with the increased independence of the Italian Central Bank and the increasingly fixed exchange rates of the ERM. The sample period 1974-1994 is divided into two parts approximately corresponding to...

Robinson and Marinucci (1998) investigated the asymptotic behaviour of a narrow-band semiparametric procedure termed Frequency Domain Least Squares (FDLS) in the broad context of fractional cointegration analysis. Here we restrict discussion to the standard case when the data are I(1) and the...

Using both semiparametric and parametric estimation methods, this paper corroborates earlier findings of fractionally integrated behaviour in the forward premium. Two new explanations are also proposed to help reconcile earlier conflicting empirical evidence on the time series properties of the...

The seasonal structure of quarterly UK and Japanese consumption and income is examined by means of fractionally based tests proposed by Robinson (1994). These series were analysed from an autoregressive unit root viewpoint by Hylleberg, Engle, Granger and Yoo (HEGY, 1990) and Hylleberg, Engle,...

This paper models regional earnings and unemployment in the ten regions of Great Britain between 1972 and 1995, paying particular attention to their interaction and to the important influence of the housing market. In contrast to Blanchard and Katz (1992, 1997) for the United States, we find...

This paper develops a new approach to the problem of testing the existence of a level relationship between a dependent variable and a set of regressors, when it is not known with certainty whether the underlying regressors are trend- or first-difference stationary. The proposed tests are based...

This paper compares the performance of eight frequently used flexible forms that are either (1) locally flexible, (2) 'effectively globally regular', or (3) asymptotically globally flexible. Results show that the functions with global properties generally perform better, particularly those...

Using ARIMA models and entropy, the dynamic evolution of several functions of aggregate income and other attributes of well-being is analysed for statistical 'similarity' in order to determine potentially distinct dimensions in multidimensional analysis of welfare and quality of life in the USA....

We propose a measure of predictability based on the ratio of the expected loss of a short-run forecast to the expected loss of a long-run forecast. This predictability measure can be tailored to the forecast horizons of interest, and it allows for general loss functions, univariate or...