This paper studies the impact of partisan national fiscal policy on the optimal central bank design of a two-country monetary union. In each country two parties with different preferences compete for office, their succession in power being formalized as zero-mean political shocks. These contrast...

We analyse the budget balance forecasts prepared by 15 European countries in their Excessive Deficit Procedure reportings, studying the statistical properties of forecast errors and their politico-institutional determinants. Forecast errors are responsive to growth surprises, fiscal institutions...

We compare Europe with the USA and Canada as regards business cycle synchronization and core-periphery patterns. A long sample (1950-2005) makes it possible to study how these aspects have evolved over time. Results support the economic viability of EMU. Average cyclical correlations among...

We relate technological adoption (of different technologies) with income inequality. We discovered that some technologies such as aviation, cell phones, electric production, internet, telephone, and TV are skill-complementary in raising inequality. We constructed standardized indexes of...

We calculate aggregate measures of mismatch in the labour market for 30 European countries. These indicators measure vertical mismatch (related to the level of education, e.g. overeducation, and undereducation) and horizontal mismatch (related to the eld of education) and are comparable across...

In this work, we assess the existence of an S-Curve pattern in 10 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 and Hungary. In the case of Bulgaria, the Czech...

Apresentam-se e discutem-se os resultados de ciclos económicos dos países da União Europeia, nomeadamente volatilidade, persistência e correlação entre os ciclos. As estatísticas são construídas com dados trimestrais, utilizando o filtro HP para remover a tendência e o procedimento...

Sequeira T. N. and Lopes A. F. Does a federal country need federal transfers when it has labour mobility?, Regional Studies. This work empirically tests optimum currency area theory for members of a given monetary union (the United States). The United States is recognized as a country where...