This paper focuses on the empirical link between monetary policy transparency and output volatility. Key questions addressed are: (i) Does transparency about policy processes stabilize output? (ii) Whether different aspects of transparency differ qualitatively or quantitatively in terms of their...

Environmental regulation may remain incomplete in the presence of informal sector. Due to differences in environmental policies, institutional effectiveness and other demographic reasons, this incompleteness may be more damaging for developing countries than others. This paper investigates these...

We study economic growth in four emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC). Questions addressed are: (a) How do mediumterm growth determinants differ from short term determinants? (b) What are differences between growth effects of aggregate versus disaggregated exports? (c)...

This paper examines the determinants of cross-country housing price volatility over 2000-08, with main focus on the effects of corruption. Taking account of various other aspects and potential simultaneity issues, results show that greater corruption is associated with greater property price...

Using panel data for 19 OECD countries covering the period 1986-1995, we find effect of general economic uncertainty on venture-capital investments to be significantly negative. The more irreversible late-stage venture-capital investments are much more adversely affected by such uncertainty than...

This paper contributes to the discussion and understanding of corruption in transition countries. Specifically, we use annual data over 1998 - 2002 for 25 transition economies to study factors that cause corruption. Two widely used measures of corruption are employed to test the validity of our...

This paper introduces uncertainty of patent scope in examining R&D investment decisions in pursuit of an uncertain innovation. We find that an increase in the probability of scope protection increases research spending. This finding is opposite of the well-known effect that increased rivalry has...