In this paper, we construct the country-specific chronologies of the house price bubbles for 12 OECD countries over the period 1969:Q1- 2010:Q2. These chronologies are obtained using a combination of a fundamental and a filter approaches. The resulting speculative bubble chronology is the one...

This paper analyses the reaction of fiscal policy to the cycle in OECD countries. The results suggest that while overall government balances were counter-cyclical in the past and more so in economic downturns than in upswings, discretionary fiscal policy was neutral on average. However,...

The unemployment rate in Estonia rose sharply in 2010 to one of the highest levels in the EU, after the country entered a severe recession in 2008. While the rate declined relatively rapidly in 2011, it remained high especially for the less educated. In 2009, the Employment Contract Law relaxed...

This paper compares the poverty reduction impact of income sources, taxes and transfers across five OECD countries. Since the estimation of that impact can depend on the order in which the various income sources are introduced into the analysis, it is done by using the Shapley value. Estimates...

This contribution provides evidence for the hypothesis that trade increases growth through its curbing effect on capital taxes. The analyzed mechanism includes two different steps and considers the critical points of both the theoretical and empirical studies in this field. In particular, the...

Examines the extent of emigration of skilled labour from developing countries to OECD countries. Reviews policy options for both sending and receiving countries to promote mutually beneficial brain circulation or exchanges.

While research and development (R&D) expenditure is crucial in a nation's competitive advantage, factors determining levels of public investment in R&D have yet to be examined. This paper seeks to fill this void, focusing on different democratic institutions such as presidential versus...