Statistical data sets often contain observations that differ markedly from the bulk of the data. These outlying observations, ‘outliers’, have given rise to notable risks for statistical analysis and inference. Unfortunately, many of the classical statistical methods, such as ordinary least...

This paper tests for the presence of a credit channel (particularly a bank-lending sub-channel) for monetary policy in the housing market. We argue that the importance of this channel for investment in residential housing is highly dependent on the structural features, and particularly the...

In this paper we estimate reduced form investment equations for Finland using aggregate as well as firm-level panel data. We obtain significant estimates of the accelerator and user-cost effects on investment with both aggregate and firm level data, but these effects appear to be stronger at the...

This paper investigates the extent to which euro area monetary policy has responded to evolving economic conditions in individual member states as opposed to the euro area as a whole. Based on a forward-looking Taylor rule-type policy reaction function, we conduct counterfactual exercises that...

In open economy, a choice can be made between two measures of inflation for use as a target variable: CPI inflation or domestic inflation. This paper considers flexible and strict inflation targeting strategies and explores the circumstances under which a domestic inflation target is preferred...

We investigate the causes of the Finnish Great Depression, 1990-1993. We find that the collapse of the overheated financial and banking sectors starting in 1989 was the trigger of the economic crisis. Foreign shocks, which include the collapse of trade with USSR in 1991, can account for at most...

In this study, we test whether regional growth in 11 European countries depends on financial development and suggest the use of cost- and profit-efficiency estimates as quality measures for financial institutions. Contrary to the usual quantitative proxies for financial development, the quality...

This paper examines progressive changes in productivity of the European stock exchange industry using non-parametric frontier techniques. Within the framework of Malmquist indices, total factor productivity growth is decomposed into technological progress and technical efficiency change for a...

This article analyses the frequency components of European business cycles using real GDP by employ-ing multiresolution decomposition (MRD) with the use of maximal overlap discrete wavelet transforms (MODWT). Static wavelet variance and correlation analysis is performed, and phasing is studied...

The economic theory of network externalities provides the rationale for this paper, which investigates whether adoption of network strategies in European stock exchanges creates additional value in the provision of trading services. Using unbalanced panel data from all major European exchanges...