Due to restrictive foreign exchange policy and active parallel markets for foreign exchange in some developing countries, it is often believed that the real official exchange rate is undervalued (overvaluing in domestic currency). Since an overvalued domestic currency depresses official current...

This paper addresses the issue of how the stability of the Greek economy will be affected by Greece’s accession to the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The theoretical basis for most of the discussion of this issue to date is found in the theory of optimum currency areas (OCA),...

Chinese policy toward the South China Sea conflict has often been considered inscrutable, or even worse, duplicitous. Foreign observers often accuse China of saying one thing (pledging peace) and doing another (hostile actions). However, an analysis of Chinese speeches suggests that there might...

With economic inequality on the rise in Canada, the federal government needs to consider innovative solutions. One possibility for improving the tax-transfer system involves refundable tax credits (RTCs). Making all tax credits refundable wouldn't require Ottawa to introduce new tax measures;...

Cities are a significant source of economic growth and prosperity, but they may also contribute to social problems. In particular, the dynamics of urban spatial structure may exacerbate such problems as unemployment and poverty in the inner city. In this paper we examine a more recent but...

When the government establishes a social program whose primary purpose is to help provide support to low-income people with disabilities, its success should be measured on how well it achieves that purpose. Unfortunately, there are reasons to seriously question the usefulness of Canada's...

Using Vietnam’s latest National Household Survey data for 2001-2002 this paper assesses the influence of individual, household and commune-level characteristics on a woman’s decision to seek prenatal care, on the number of prenatal visits, and on the choice between giving birth at a health...