We construct a theoretical framework to study the impact of asymmetric quality standards on used durable goods on trade flows, profits and consumer welfare. We show that asymmetry in quality standards generates trade in used goods from high to low standard countries while at the same time...

We propose procedures designed to uncover structural breaks in the co-movements of financial markets. A reduced form approach is introduced that can be considered as a two stage method for reducing dimensionality of multivariate heteroskedastic conditional volatility models through...

This paper investigates empirically the extend to which the ten new countries of the current EU enlargement are ready to join the European Monetary Union (EMU). We assess the prospects of successful accession into the EMU using cointegration and common trends analysis on the nominal convergence...

We examine wage-change distributions in Canadian union contracts for evidence of downward nominal wage rigidity. Its probability increases substantially during low-inflation periods. During such periods, we discern no reduction in the incidence of real wage cuts. However, their magnitude is...

This paper estimates the effects on Greek trade balance due to the EU accession. The analytical and the residuals approach were implemented. A full trade model was used, since Greece relies on imported inputs for export production and a standard model of trade may not be appropriate for the...

This paper evaluates the effects of Greece?s accession to the EU on imports of manufactures and static welfare. A dynamic specification of the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) based on cointegration techniques and error correction models, is used. Based on Greek trade data we find that this...

We study how alternative market structures influence market supply and R&D investment decisions of firms operating in dynamic imperfectly competitive environments. Firms can reduce their future production cost through R&D investment today, which is the engine of endogenous industry growth. Our...

We study the behavior of firms in an imperfectly competitive environment in which firms influence the evolution of the stock of capital equipment. Our model enables us, using analytical characterizations, to show the effect of key ingredients of dynamic competition on firm strategies and...

This paper describes participation of Cyprus households in various debts using data from the first (1999) Cyprus Survey of Consumer Finances. It complements our previous paper that described household participation in various types of assets (Haliassos et al., 2001). Debts considered encompass...

Using wage agreements reached in the Canadian unionized sector during 1976-99, a period of high as well as exceptionally low inflation, we consider how histograms of wage adjustment change as inflation reaches the low levels of the 1990s.  The histograms and parametric tests suggest that wage...