The expectations hypothesis implies that rational investors can predict future changes in interest rates by simply observing the yield spread. According to Mishkin (1990) the expectations theory can also be reformulated in terms of the ability of the spread to predict future inflation....

This paper argues that any assessment on the intentional stance of fiscal policy should be based upon all the information available to policymakers at the time of fiscal planning. In particular, real-time data on the discretionary fiscal policy "instrument", the structural primary balance,...

Is the big push hypothesis consistent with capacity constraints in the study of aid effectiveness? Big push hypothesis suggests the existence of a minimum threshold below which aid is not effective, while the constraints referred to by the concept of absorptive capacity suggests the existence of...

This paper argues that any assessment on the intentional stance of fiscal policy should be based upon all the information available to policymakers at the time of fiscal planning. In particular, real-time data on the discretionary fiscal policy "instrument", the structural primary balance,...

This paper employs a parametric model of persistent (level) shifts in the conditional mean of stock market returns which are endogenously driven by large positive or negative return shocks. These shocks can be taken to reflect important market announcements, monetary policy regime changes and/or...

A threshold extreme value distribution for modeling standardized financial returns is investigated. The main theme is tail asymmetry, which means that the left and right tails of the standardized return distribution are not identical. The peak-over-threshold idea in extreme value theory is...

In this paper, the author focuses on the nonlinear nature of the aid to growth relationship to show that the “Big Push” hypothesis is consistent with capacity constraints in the understanding of aid effectiveness. The Big Push hypothesis proposes the existence of one threshold below which...

This paper investigates the nonlinearities in commodity prices using smooth transition regression (STR) models. What distinguishes this paper from the majority of the studies in the smooth transition literature is its use of exogenous transition variables, in addition to the standard...