In this paper, we evaluate what we have learned to date about the effects of privatization from the experiences during the last fifteen to twenty years in the postcommunist (transition) economies and, where relevant, China. We distinguish separately the impact of privatization on efficiency,...

This paper investigates the question of whether there exists evidence in support of inflation convergence within the European Union. The analysis also focuses on whether the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) helped to accelerate inflation convergence in its member countries. The results of this...

We present a theoretical and empirical analysis of stable coexistence among the world's anchor currencies (G3): the dollar, euro and yen. The theoretical model presented in this paper builds on a model of spatial competition and rests on a set of assumptions related to the behavior of central...

Using a stochastic frontier model and a comprehensive dataset, we study factors that affect corporate efficiency in Europe. We find that (i) larger firms are less efficient than smaller firms, (ii) greater leverage contributes to corporate efficiency, and (iii) high competition is less...

We estimate the impact of macroeconomic news on composite stock returns in three emerging European Union financial markets (the Budapest BUX, Prague PX-50, and Warsaw WIG-20), using intraday data and macroeconomic announcements. Our contribution is twofold. We employ a larger set of...

This Paper works with a broad data sample of Czech voucher-privatized firms during 1996-99. It analyses the development of ownership structure and consequently its effect on a firm's performance Ownership concentration had been quite high in 1996 and steadily increased. The single largest owner...

We empirically examine the fiscal convergence of the recent ten European Union (EU) members using the Maastricht fiscal convergence criteria. We test for absolute beta and sigma convergence of the new members in comparison to the Maastricht benchmarks, as well as the EU15 figures, using...

We address the issue of foreign exchange risk and its macroeconomic determinants in several new EU members. We derive the observable macroeconomic factors--consumption and inflation--using the stochastic discount factor (SDF) approach. The joint distribution of excess returns in the foreign...