We examine the expected survival time of a unilateral exchange rate target zone, when constraints on monetary policy prevent the central bank from exclusively focusing on defending the target zone. Generally, the width of the target zone has a negligible effect on the expected survival time, and...

When several investors with different risk aversions trade competitively in a capital market, the allocation of wealth fluctuates randomly between them and acts as a state variable against which each market participant will want to hedge. This hedging motive complicates the investors' portfolio...

Previous work by Dumas and Solnik (1993) has shown that a CAPM which incorporates foreign-exchange risk premia (a so-called 'international CAPM') is better capable empirically of explaining the structure of worldwide rates of return than does the classic CAPM. In the specification of that test,...

In this essay, I discuss and compare two ways of modeling international capital market equilibrium: the orthodox, general-equilibrium approach and the heterodox, partial-equilibrium CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) approach. The benchmark for this comparison is the model's ability to provide...

Entry into a market seems to necessitate some investment into "marketing capital" (or distribution capital: advertising, dealerships etc ... ). This form of investment has the property that, if it is unused for some time, it quickly becomes worthless. When entry into a market requires marketing...

Dixit (1988) observed that the mathematical construct of "regulated Brownian motion" developed by Harrison (1985) had proved useful in economic models of decision-making under uncertainty. In a recent note he provided a number of methods for calculating expected discounted payoff functions based...

Transferring physical capital and transferring production and sales activities from one country to the other typically entails large adjustment costs. The model of this paper features two homogeneous stocks of physical capital located in two different countries separated by an 'ocean'. The two...

This paper is a brief evaluation of the Eurosystem's monetary-policy regime after its first year, in particular of the extent to which it is similar to inflation targeting as practiced by an increasing number of central banks. I examine the Eurosystem's goals, framework for monetary-policy...

The so-called P* model is frequently used or referred to in discussions of monetary targeting. This gives the impression that the P* model might provide some rationale for monetary targeting or for the monetary reference value used by the Eurosystem. The P* model implies that inflation is...

The paper discusses several issues related to how monetary policy should be conducted in an era of price stability. Low inflation (with base drift in the price level) and price-level stability (without such base drift) are compared, and a suitable loss function (corresponding to flexible...