We show that there are theoretical arguments, which indicate that leaving out the 1-euro cent and 2-euro cent leads to more efficient cash payment behavior. Next, we show that having no access to 100-euro notes and 10-euro notes is less harmful than having no 50-euro notes. Finally, we argue...

This note gives a few practical guidelines for cointegration analysis. The focus is on testing the cointegration rank in a VAR model and on how an intercept and a trend should be incorporated in the model. Only two cases appear relevant for most economic data.

It is common practice to evaluate fixed-event forecast revisions in macroeconomics by regressing current revisions on one-period lagged revisions. Under weak-form efficiency, the correlation between the current and one-period lagged revisions should be zero. The empirical findings in the...

Macroeconomic forecasts are often based on the interaction between econometric models and experts. A forecast that is based only on an econometric model is replicable and may be unbiased, whereas a forecast that is not based only on an econometric model, but also incorporates an expert’s...

Macro-economic forecasts typically involve both a model component, which is replicable, as well as intuition, which is non-replicable. Intuition is expert knowledge possessed by a forecaster. If forecast updates are progressive, forecast updates should become more accurate, on average, as the...

Macro-economic forecasts are often based on the interaction between econometric models and experts. A forecast that is based only on an econometric model is replicable and may be unbiased, whereas a forecast that is not based only on an econometric model, but also incorporates an expert’s...

Consumers have substantial debts. Examples concern mortgages but also debts for products such as clothing and books. Facing difficulties when dealing with interest rates and percentages computations is one of the reasons for those debts. Campaigns like “Borrowing money costs money” should...

In this paper we put forward a generalization of the Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) Model of Engle (2002). Our model allows for asset-specific correlation sensitivities, which is useful in particular if one aims to summarize a large number of asset returns. The resultant GDCC model is...

The academic publication process consists of al least two stages. The first stage covers the conception of a paper, its submission to a journal, possible revisions due to comments made by (anonymous) reviewers, and acceptance of the manuscript, among other aspects. The second stage concerns the...

This paper builds on De Groot and Franses (2005) (Econometric Institute Report 2005-01). It modifies the EICIE, the Econometric Institute Current Indicator of the Economy, by allowing for two regimes. These regimes are marked by positive or negative annual growth in the staffing services data....