In EU (2008-2014, monthly data) regarding the variation of stock returns “January effect” does not matter, while EU follows the USA stock returns and finally southern regions (who are mostly hit by the crisis) tend to have a negative impact on stock returns. The elaboration of panel data...

Using panel data analysis, it will be pointed out that in Europe for the period 1999-2014 the female penetration in total employment fosters firm profitability, mainly in the southern countries, while federal system of governance does not matter regarding firm profitability. The econometric...

The Eurozone today is going into the same deflationary situation that the U.S. did under Jackson's destruction of the Second Bank, and the post-Civil War budget surpluses that deflated the economy. But whereas the Fed's creation was designed to inflate the U.S. economy, Europe's European Central...

The 1920s often called the “Golden 20s” because the equity markets were booming but there were a series of structural issues. Only a few years after the 1st World War the global economy was still suffering from the consequences of the brutal war. The market crash of 1929 came unexpected and...

Finance has become more a problem than a solution to what the world most wants: socially inclusive growth. It has become a source of crises that threaten the development of the real economy. It has escaped accountability to democratic institutions and often helped, instead, to influence and...

This 2-part series discusses the emergence of financial derivatives after the collapse of the Bretton Woods accord in 1971. In Part 1, the article explains the concepts that enabled financial derivatives markets to flourish, focusing on the required mathematical concepts. Part 2 continues with...

Financial markets have experienced unprecedented transformations, signs of which have emerged since the late 1970s. In recent years substantial consolidation occurred. In response to changes in macroeconomic variables, such as GDP, industrial production, inflation and the political business...

This paper elucidates the key debates surrounding the optimal design of financial systems and institutions: bank-based versus market-based; universal versus specialized banking; relationship versus arms-length banking. The paper also examines the historical pattern of financial system development...

This article questions the model of central bank independence by considering the mainstream empirical literature that purports to correlate central bank independence with lower inflation rates. The studies, conducted mostly prior to the 2008 financial crisis, mimic the flaws in the risk...

This paper surveys the co-evolution of monetary policy and financial stability for a number of countries across four exchange rate regimes from 1880 to the present. Historical evidence is presented on the incidence, costs and determinants of financial crises along with some empirical evidence on...