The aim of the present analysis is to shed light on the question whether Central Banks should publish their macroeconomic forecasts, and what could possibly be gained in monetary policy if they did so. We show that disclosing the Central Bank’s assessment of the prevailing inflationary...

We study the effect of the zero bound constraint of interest rates on international transmission of eco-nomic policy and supply shocks. After some preliminary analysis with a simple theoretical model, we ap-ply a rich two-country simulation model to the problem. The model framework consists of...

We develop a theoretical framework aimed to model the pricing of electronic money (electronic cash cards) and the market domain in which it will be used. We first calculate the fee structures of electronic cash- and charge-card industries for the monopoly and competitive cases. We show that the...

This paper analyses the prerequisites for and the results of unanimous monetary policy decisions in a monetary union consisting of heterogeneous members. The analysis is based on a multicountry version of Rogoff's model of the determination of monetary policy in the presence of supply shocks. It...

The paper investigates the existence and extent of economies of scale in depository and settlement systems. Evidence from 16 settlement institutions across different regions for the years 1993–2000 indicates the existence of significant economies of scale. The degree of such economies,...

This paper investigates the market consequences of alliance formation among stock exchanges. These alliances enable brokers to match investors internationally at their local market, thereby eliminating the need for brokers to maintain memberships in foreign stock exchanges. We sort out the...

Recently, banking literature has had a quest for appropriate pricing of bank loans under the new Basel II rules and has been in pursuit of possible outcomes for undertaking such credit risk. In this paper, we propose a simplified formula to price bank’s corporate loans, aiming at making bank...

Using theories of internal capital markets, this paper examines the link between financial market integration and the value of global diversification. Based on a sample of 1,491 completed cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) conducted by US acquirers during the 1990–2003 period, we...

China is reforming its banking system, partially privatizing and permitting minority foreign ownership of three of the dominant ‘big four’ state-owned banks. This paper seeks to help predict the effects of this change by analysing the efficiency of virtually all Chinese banks in the years...

While the importance of currency movements to industry competitiveness is theoretically well established, there is little evidence that currency risk impacts US industries. Applying a conditional asset-pricing model to 36 US industries, we find that all industries have a significant currency...