The effects of monetary policy depend significantly on the capacity of the Central Bank to affect market interest rates by managing liquidity. Therefore, it comes out as an important issue to determine the degree of flexibility of lending and deposit rates to changes in policy rates. In this...

Many countries have switched from a pay-as-you-go pension systems to a fully funded scheme with individual accounts. These fully funded systems are commonly implemented as defined contribution schemes, so that the final benefits paid are uncertain and closely related the contribution profile....

We study price competition in a model with differentiated products and searching costs. In this model firms charge a price above marginal costs. This positive mark-up gives firms incentive to steal consumers from their rivals. For this purpose, firms hire sales agents that contact customers...

This paper provides new empirical evidence on macroeconomic policies and results in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), based on recent data for the region and the world at large. Our results show that: (i) both monetary and fiscal policies are counter- (pro-) cyclical when credibility is...

This paper study the effects of two-part tariff pricing in a competitive environment with differentiated products and switching costs. This is the case of long distance telephone service, where there is a fixed monthly fee and a charge per call. This is also the case for some financial...

This paper studies savings and life insurance adequacy using a financial planning software package, ESPlanner. This program computes the highest sustainable living standard for the household based on an elaborated life cycle planning model. ESPlanner was used in financial planning sessions with...