Floating exchange rates display substantial short-run volatility causing a nontrivial information problem in disentangling temporary from permanent changes. Although agents observe current market signals they are imperfectly informed about the future, but they accumulate information and learn...

Globalization is much debated, but is it possible to make reliable ranks of which countries are the most integrated internationally? Traditionally resort is taken to trade measures, but even considering only economic integration this measure disregards a number of aspects. This paper proposes a...

This paper discusses the need and scope for an active fiscal stabilization policy. It is argued that the effectiveness of fiscal policy as a short run stabilizer does not depend on the long run multipliers of (balanced budget) fiscal policies. To the extent that activity can be affected by...

El presente informe examina el proceso analítico para la gestión del riesgo que comienza con la identificación de las principales amenazas a las que se encuentran expuestos los países de América Latina y el Caribe. Seguidamente, señala las exposiciones al riesgo relacionadas con dichas...

The Latin American and Caribbean region is highly exposed to natural disasters. The social and economic impact of these events has been historically very significant and it is showing an increasingly growing trend. During the first quarter of 2010, this unfortunate reality was evidenced with the...

The cyclical properties of producer and consumer prices are analysed on quarterly data for the period 1961:1 to 1990:4 for 15 OECD countries. It is found that the cyclical properties of prices vary substantially over time and across countries. All countries have periods with pro- and...

This technical paper provides us with an in-depth explanation of how losses due to catastrophes are insured and who absorbs the costs of compensating the insured assets. In the absence of an effective insurance market, the government often becomes the de facto financier of postdisaster...

The report makes a general assessment of the need for catastrophe risk transfer in Latin America and the Caribbean. It analyzes different ways in which risk transfer can take place in the form of conventional reinsurance contracts as well as newer derivative instruments and risk-linked securities.

This study follows an analytical risk management process that begins by identifying the major hazards to which the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are exposed. It then outlines the risk exposures related to these hazards, evaluates opportunities for risk transfer and presents...

Recent debates have suggested that taxation is very detrimental to labour force participation and employment. However, some countries - notably the Scandinavian - stand out as contradictions to this view since they have managed to sustain high labour force participation despite high tax rates...