In this work we empirically test optimum currency area theory regarding the efficiency of two usual stabilization mechanisms for members of a given monetary union (the United States): federal transfers and migration. The US is recognized as a country where labor mobility between states is high....

Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland are set to join the European and Monetary Union (EMU) in the near future. This paper offers a framework for the quantitative evaluation of the economic costs of joining the EMU. Using an open economy dynamic general equilibrium model with sticky prices, we...

Social capital has recently been introduced in the economic literature as a growth factor. In this paper we study the interactions between social and human capital, and their contributions to economic growth in an endogenous growth model. In particular, we are interested in comparing the results...

Denmark, Sweden, and the UK have repeatedly refused to join the European and Monetary Union (EMU). Surprisingly, there is very little work on the welfare consequences of the loss of monetary policy flexibility for these countries. This paper fills this void by providing a framework to evaluate...

Federal transfers in the USA comprises some components such as retirement and disability payments for individuals, other direct payments for individuals or organizations, grants, procurement contracts, and wages. It is recognized that one of the goals of federal transfers is to alleviate di¢...

Models of economic growth are typically based on the use of one or more stocks of productive assets to create goods for utility-generating consumption. The roles played by man-made capital, natural capital and human capital have been explored, often separately, in the literature, and more...

In this article we document the features of business cycles in German Länders from 1970 and 2007. Specifically, we answer the question if German Länders are becoming more synchronized or not. All results indicate that the synchronization of cycles is stronger inside the former Western Germany...

In this work we assess the existence of a S-Curve pattern in ten Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC-10) for the relation between the trade balance and the terms of trade. Empirical results support the existence of this curve for Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and also for an...

In a series of papers, Benhabib, Schmitt-Grohé and Uribe (2001a, 2001b, 2001c, 2002 and 2004) have shown that active interest rules may lead to very unexpected consequences: indeterminacy, deflation traps, large cyclical instability, and can even lead to chaotic dynamics under standard sets of...

Resorting to an endogenous growth framework, the paper studies the implications of taking market clearing as a long term possibility rather than an every period implicit assumption, as is conventional in growth analysis. Under the proposed setup, the system may converge to a market equilibrium...