The paper looks at the National Bank of Romania’s issue of banknotes from 1880 through 1914, highlighting the developments in the notes’ cover, the channels whereby the central bank put its notes into circulation, as well as the behaviour of the issuing house during episodes of crisis. The...

A recent contribution to the literature argues that the present international monetary system in many ways operates like the Bretton-Woods system. Asia is the new periphery of the system and pursues an export-led development strategy based on undervalued exchange rates and accumulated foreign...

This paper focuses on the requirements and features of a successful monetary union on the basis of the optimum currency area theory, the “logical roadmap” for integration as proposed by Balassa as well as the economic and institutional framework of the European Economic and Monetary Union...

We examine the implications of a regional, fixed exchange rate regime for global exchange rate volatility. The concept of the optimum currency area turns out to play an important role. The formation of a regional regime tends to decrease global volatility when countries are symmetric. The...

The influx of shipping receipts from the world's leading fleet has been critical for the development of the Greek economy. Following the fateful September of 2008, the range and speed of the shift in direction of the freight rates, combined with the general economic and credit climate, have had...

The influx of shipping receipts from the world's leading fleet has been critical for the development of the Greek economy. Following the fateful September of 2008, the range and speed of the shift in direction of the freight rates, combined with the general economic and credit climate, have had...

In a surprise move during a crisis, the ECB excluded Greek Government Bonds from the set of eligible collateral in monetary policy operations. In turn, Greek banks turned to Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) to meet their funding needs. ELA replenished losses from all funding sources,...

Using a sample of bank loans to firms operating in the tourism industry for the period 2010-2015, and regional variation of tourism activities to identify the strategic defaulted firms, we examine the impact of Greek banks consolidation on the firms’ payment behavior. We show that a...

The pricing mechanism in the gasoline market has often been the subject of public debate inGreece during the crisis years. Inefficient pricing could imply oligopolistic practices in themarket and losses to consumers’ welfare in a period characterised by a dramatic fall inconsumers’ income...