We construct new series for common native language and common spoken language for 195 countries, which we use together with series for common official language and linguistic proximity in order to draw inferences about (1) the aggregate impact of all linguistic factors on bilateral trade, (2)...

The paper is devoted to an econometric analysis of learning foreign languages in all parts of the world. Our sample covers 193 countries and 13 important languages. Four factors significantly explain learning, two of which affect the broad decision to learn, while two concern as well the choice...

This paper employs worldwide data on output and bilateral trade in order to identify optimum currency areas (OCA’s) on a global basis. By retaining only two of the many criteria that have been mentioned in the literature on OCA’s, it has been possible to use computer programming to do the...

On the basis of quarterly data in 1977-87 and the use of the Engle-Granger method of co-integration, we find that real and financial factors, insolvency and illiquidity, are all important, separate influences on the defaults of French firms. We capture the effect of illiquidity by constructing...

This paper tries to explain how, despite its fundamental asymmetry, the European Monetary System may benefit all its members. I argue that the high-inflation members obtain benefits of increased monetary discipline, while the others experience improvements in their international competitiveness....

This paper assesses how monetary authorities behave and how they interact. Pooled data for the 15 members of the European Union except Luxembourg and five other OECD countries serves to answer these questions. Three basic conclusions emerge. First, fiscal policy responds to the ratio of public...

In this paper we test the well-known hypothesis of Obstfeld and Rogoff (2000) that trade costs are the key to explaining the so-called Feldstein-Horioka puzzle. Using a gravity framework in an intertemporal context, we provide strong support for the hypothesis and we reconcile our results with...

This paper produces estimates of regional redistribution and stabilization through the central government budget in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. The estimates rest on panel data econometrics and an adherence to certain accounting principles that have occasionally...

We examine proposals to introduce in the European Community national insurance against unevenly distributed shocks. This would operate differently from tax and government spending activities that now yield regional insurance within countries, since the latter are mainly designed for other...

The paper proposes a general model that will encompass trade and social benefits of a common language, a preference for a variety of languages, the fundamental role of translators, an emotional attachment to maternal language, and the threat that globalization poses to the vast majority of...