This paper provides an analysis of the long-run relationships and short-run dynamics between stock prices and exchange rates as well as the channels through which exogenous shocks influence these markets. We use monthly data for the period January 1980 to February 2009 for four Latin America,...

Based on individual level data from Germany, we analyze the effect of changes in the compulsory benefit package of the social health insurance on the demand for supplementary private insurance, employing a difference-in-differences approach. The focus is on the exclusion of dental prostheses...

This paper contributes to the discussion on the role played by the absorptive capacities within host economies in their ability to grow and to exploit FDI efficiently. The outcomes for a sample of developing economies during the period 1976-2005 show differences associated to both the method of...

In this paper we consider marginal cost estimation in Greek railways over the period 2000-2004. Marginal cost estimation has been recently an active area of research when disaggregated data by line of operation are available but factor price data are not available. We propose panel data...

This paper utilizes a non-homogeneous production function to estimate the efficiency of the pharmaceutical industry of Puerto Rico using data from 1980 to 2008. Global competition in recent years has resulted in job loss and plant closures requiring strategies to profitably use the industry's...

This paper is mainly devoted to an empirical study of the legal and real independence of the Tunisian Central Bank as well as to estimating the correlation between the inflationary bias and the real independence of the emerging countries while applying new data sources. Our contribution...

This paper introduces a definition, a way of classifying and a method of evaluating policy modeling. An analytical tool called "Policy Modeling Consistency (PMC-Index)" has been developed for the purposes of evaluating policy modeling. The PMC-Index enables policy-makers and researchers to...

It is widely agreed that a fiscal rule should boost discipline and credibility. A rule should also reduce macroeconomic volatility and be easily understood. Toward such ends, a government may run structural surpluses. In so doing, the government accumulates a precautionary cushion of assets on...

This paper examines the existence of any relations between globalization and corruption using cross-section data for 127 countries. The estimation results indicate that, under the assumption of a linear model, a positive correlation between corruption and globalization exists, while when...

The aim of this paper is to simulate some education policies which would be consistent with different definitions of equality of opportunity (EO). In concrete, we estimate how educational resources should be distributed in order to achieve equality of educational opportunity in the province of...