This paper aims at analyzing whether Active Labour Market Programs (ALMP) could have different effects on unemployment and employment dynamics according to the particular region where the program is implemented. To this end, the research analyses alternative theoretical and econometric models...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated in spring of this year that a more timely restructuring of Greece’s sovereign debt would have been beneficial. But what are the available options for early debt restructuring? The report argues that current reforms in the Euro area, in particular,...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated in spring of this year that a more timely restructuring of Greece’s sovereign debt would have been beneficial. But what are the possible solutions for early debt restructuring? The present report shows that current reforms, in particular introducing...

We study the occurrence of holdout litigation in the context of sovereign defaults. The number of creditor lawsuits against foreign governments has strongly increased over the past decades, but there is a large variation across crisis events. Why are some defaults followed by a “run to the...

This paper analyses the production technology of Portuguese banks during the 1992–2006 period through the estimation of a translog cost frontier. This period is of major interest because it covers Portugal’s euro area accession and its impact on the banking system. Hence, critical factors...

This paper analyses the production technology of Portuguese banks during the 1992-2004 period through the estimation of a translog cost frontier. Banks are modelled as firms which produce loans and other earning assets, choosing the cost minimizing combination of labour, capital and interest...

The purpose of the present paper is to assess the competitive behaviour of Portuguese banking groups during the period ranging from 1991 to 2004, using the non-structural test developed by Panzar and Rosse. The main findings are that the Portuguese banking system has experienced weak competition...

The purpose of the present paper is to shed some light on why Portuguese banks hold significant capital buffers above the required regulatory minimum, through the estimation of a dynamic panel data model. The main findings are that the capital buffer is positively influenced by several broad...