This study applies the nonparametric estimation procedure to the diffusion process modeling the dynamics of short-term interest rates. This approach allows us to operate in continuous time, estimating the continuous-time model, despite the use of discrete data. Three methods are proposed. We...

The issue of over-utilization of medical procedures has generated strong debate in the United States. It is well acknowledged that, in the agency relationship between physicians and patients, the informational advantage gives doctors an incentive to deviate from the appropriate treatment as...

The adoption of a Taylor-type monetary policy rule and an inflation target for emerging market economies that choose a flexible exchange rate regime is often advocated. This paper investigates the issue of exchange rate determination when interest-rate feedback rules are implemented in a...

This work focuses on the importance of local incentives, in the region of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal), during the 12th and the 16th centuries. It aims to test the hypothesis that actualised incentives are factors of municipal attractivity. For this purpose, a model is enunciated; this...

Potential links between inflation, (t), and unemployment, UE(t), in Germany have been examined. There exists a consistent (conventional) Phillips curve despite some changes in monetary policy. This Phillips curve is characterized by a negative relation between inflation and unemployment with...

Institutional competition is often discussed as an instrument of market creation and preservation in transition and development economies. The post-Soviet space offers an interesting case study for the analysis of this problem: increasing international investment flows and absent policy...

The objective of this paper is to analyse the dynamics of networks in which new knowledge emerges and through which it is exchanged. Our conjecture is that the structure of a network cannot be divorced from the dynamics of the knowledge underpinning its activities. In so doing we look beyond...

Many reasons for the low level of local development in Sicily have been advanced through the years, often connected to historical and geographical explanations. More frequently the reasons of the backwardness (better low rate of development) is connected to high level of crime and of mafia...

How important are liquidity constraints in the demand for college education in the U.S.? Who is most likely to be affected? Persistent credit constraints can lead to inefficient skill allocations and, given the wide gap between college and high school earnings, can work to perpetuate imbalances...

The audit expectations gap is of serious concern to the UK accounting profession with the Department of Trade and Industry proposing a new framework for independent regulation of the accounting profession. However the new Accounting Foundation has had its role placed under review following the...