Australia is in the early stages of introducing a system of self-provision for retirement through mandatory contributions to private superannuation funds. For most employees, the scheme will eventually replace, either fully or partially, the government age pension, currently relied upon by a...

This paper reviews the performance of a selection of indicators that are in common use in analysing the business cycle. The analysis proceeds in two stages, looking first at relationships between major expenditure aggregates and GDP, and then looking at the extent to which partial indicators...

This paper reviews issues in the econometric modelling of monetary policy in the light of recent experience and research. Two main sets of issues are covered: first, the operation of policy including the specification of the instrument and objectives; and second, the transmission of monetary...

Assets with superannuation funds represented the fastest growing of the major components of household wealth during the 1980s. This paper reviews the causes of that growth, and its effects on private saving and on the pattern of financial intermediation. It is found that the growth of...

During the past two or three decades structural change in the Australian financial system has been rapid. The system has grown substantially in assets and volumes of activity, has become much more open and competitive, and has undergone some significant shifts in market shares. There has also...

This paper investigates the efficiency of Australian options markets using a version of the Black-Scholes model. Under the joint null hypothesis that the pricing model is valid, and that forecasts are efficient, the implied volatilities calculated from observed option prices should be efficient...