This paper reviews some recent work in which Levy processes are used to model and analyse time series from financial econometrics. A main feature of the paper is the use of positive Ornstein-Unlenbeck (OU) type processes inside stochastic volatility processes. The basic probability theory...

Improving weak teaching may be one of the most effective means of raising pupil achievement. However, teachers` classroom practices and the teaching `process` may matter more to student learning than teachers` observed resume characteristics (such as certification and experience). There may also...

This paper is concerned with the fitting and comparison of high dimensional multivariate time series models with time varying correlations. The models considered here combine features of the classical factor model with those of the univariate stochastic volatility model. Specifically, a set of...

An intertemporal acreage allocation model that allows for the impact of compulsory grain delivery is developed. Subsequently, an estimable dynamic acreage demand equation is derived, and estimated for a crop using region-level data. Generalised method of moments (GMM) estimators for dynamic...

The question posed in this paper is whether structural adjustment programs have had the consequences policy intended and theory predicts. It uses evidence from a micro survey of manufacturing firms in Ghana to assess whether policy has effected an expansion of the exportable sector within...

Measures of central banks` independence and central banks` accountability which are based on an interpretation of their statutes provide, in themselves, no guidance for the assessment of legislative proposals. In the effectiveness of monetary policy, the crucial considerations relate to how...

Recent decades have seen a considerable expansion of global trade and a simultaneous decline in inflation volatility. This paper investigates whether greater openness to trade helps achieve inflation stability. Using panel data for a sample of developing and industrial countries over the period...

This paper presents a principal-agent model of IMF conditional lending, in the aftermath of a capital-account liquidity crisis. We show that traditional ex-post conditionality can be effective in safeguarding the Funds resources, allowing for the provision of efficient emergency lending and...

In this note we make use of embryonic labour market panel surveys of the urban sectors of Ghana and Tanzania, and a longer term survey from Ethiopia, to address some aspects of the determinants of earnings across the wage and self-employed and provide preliminary evidence on transitions across...