This paper attempts to evaluate the effects of capital market imperfections on consumer behavior, on the basis of cross-sectional Italian data. We evaluate the difference between desired and observed consumption using a technique proposed by Hayashi. We find that in Italy borrowing constraints...

The European Monetary Union (EMU) has been the single most important policy-induced innovation in the international financial system since the collapse of the Bretton-Woods system. By eliminating exchange rate risk, EMU has eliminated a key obstacle to financial integration. But while a single...

This study provides a thorough assessment of the likely effects of financial market integration on the ability of European countries to grow faster and on how the possible benefits will be distributed among the Community countries and industries. It achieves several conclusions strongly...

This paper performs an efficiency analysis of households portfolios based on the comparison of observed portfolios with the mean-variance frontier of assets returns. Data on household portfolios are drawn from a representative sample of the Italian population with at least a bank account. We...