In this paper, we extend Surico's (2007a) model to an open economy and test if the Brazilian Central Bank's loss function is asymmetric with regard to positive and negative deviations of the output gap and of the inflation rate from its target. Furthermore, we use tests for structural breaks to...

Despite being an empirical fact that structural change is an inseparable companion of the growth process, it appears as if growth theorists have relegated it to a secondary role. One of the reasons for this apparent neglect is undoubtedly the difficulty of dealing with the issues of sectoral...

The shift of labour out of the agricultural sector and into the manufacturing and services sectors seems to be an important factor in explaining why some countries are so much richer than others. Therefore, understanding not only the driving mechanisms and forces behind the process of structural...