Using PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) data, we investigate which countries' schools can be classified as significantly better or weaker than Germany's as regards the reading literacy of primary school children. The 'standard' approach is to conduct separate tests for...

This paper analyses monthly hours worked in the US over the sample period 1939m1–2011m10 using a cyclical long memory model. This model, which is based on Gegenbauer processes, is characterised by autocorrelations decaying to zero cyclically and hyperbolically, with a spectral density that is...

This paper analyses macroeconomic and financial determinants of bad loans applying a SVAR approach to investigate whether excessive loans granted during expansionary phases can explain the more than proportional increase in non-performing loans during contractionary periods. The results indicate...