We study the short-run effect of elections on monetary aggregates in a sample of 85 low and middle income democracies (1975-2009). We find an increase in the growth rate of M1 during election months of about one tenth of a standard deviation. A similar effect can neither be detected in...

Der erstmals vorgelegte Bundesländerindex der Stiftung Familienunternehmen untersucht die Standortqualitäten der deutschen Bundesländer. Das ZEW Mannheim hat unter Leitung von Professor Friedrich Heinemann eine Vielzahl von Einzelindikatoren betrachtet und gewichtet. Damit können die...

In this paper, a short survey is given on the contents and some problems of the theory of optimal currency areas. In addition, a new criterion for the assessment of the optimality of a currency area is proposed: the ability of member states of a monetary union to adjust their economic system to...

Within the economic profession, it is a widely held view that the fiscal criteria of the Maastricht treaty are arbitrary numbers without economic foundation. Much of this criticism seems to overlook an important aspect - the strategic dimension of the criteria. This paper focuses on one...