It is generally acknowledged that the government's output is difficult to define and its value is hard to measure. The practical solution, adopted by national accounts systems, is to equate output to input costs. However, several studies estimate significant inefficiencies in government...

During the first half of 2008, Sri Lanka witnessed significantly higher inflation than most other emerging Asian countries. Inflation has since declined amid declining world commodity prices and tight monetary policy. Given the sensitivity to global commodity prices, a core inflation measure...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. MEASURING THE COST OF LIVING -- III. TRUE REAL EFFECTIVE EXCHANGE RATES -- IV. AN APPLICATION: THE IRISH ECONOMY'S EXPOSURE TO STERLING -- V. CONCLUSION -- Appendix -- References.

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION TO INDICATORS OF CENTRAL BANK AUTONOMY -- II. BASE INDICATORS OF DE JURE AUTONOMY -- III. SUBSEQUENT LITERATURE AND EMPIRICAL STUDIES ON BASE INDICATORS -- IV. CONCLUDING REMARKS -- Appendix I. Statistical Tables -- Appendix II. Summary of Base Indicators of...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION AND DATA -- II. UPDATED INDICATORS OF CENTRAL BANK AUTONOMY IN SELECTED OECD COUNTRIES -- III. AUTONOMY INDICATORS FOR EMERGING MARKETS AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES -- IV. PROGRESS TOWARDS AUTONOMY IN EMERGING MARKETS AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES -- V. OVERVIEW OF...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. CONCEPTS AND PRACTICAL ISSUES -- III. SOURCES OF ERROR AND BIAS IN A CPI -- IV. THE METHODS -- V. HOW TO CHOOSE AMONG METHODS: JUDGING WHICH IS BEST -- VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS -- REFERENCES.

Soft power is difficult to measure directly, and existing indicators-mostly subjective and not always transparent-fail to take into account the multidimensional nature of soft power. In this paper, we introduce a new comprehensive Global Soft Power Index (GSPI) composed of six dimensions for a...