Increased attention is being paid to assessments of the actual values of countries' real exchange rates relative to their "equilibrium" values as suggested by "fundamental" determining factors. This paper assesses the robustness of alternative approaches and models commonly used to derive...

This paper presents a simple framework that illustrates the link between skill-based wage differentiation and human capital acquisition given skill-biased technical progress. The analysis points to the economic costs resulting from labor market and income redistribution policies that prevent the...

Differences in per capita output across Canadian provinces have narrowed less than disparities in per capita income in past decades. Using a panel regression framework, this paper studies the differential impact of federal transfer programs on output convergence. The evidence suggests that while...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. THE MACROECONOMIC BALANCE APPROACH -- III. THE EXTENDED PPP APPROACH: SINGLE-COUNTRY ESTIMATES -- IV. THE EXTENDED PPP APPROACH: PANEL DATA ESTIMATES -- V. CONCLUDING REMARKS -- APPENDIX. METHODOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES OF DEALING WITH SLOPE HETEROGENEITY...

The number of studies attempting to estimate the "equilibrium" real value of China's currency has proliferated in recent years as the country's presence in world markets has grown. These studies have sought to establish whether or not a significant part of China's competitive prowess can be...

This paper proposes an approach to setting fiscal policy that factors in the longer-term budgetary pressures that countries face owing, in particular, to population aging and rising health care costs. The approach attempts to overcome the difficulties in evaluating economic trade-offs and social...

The rapid aging of China's population over the next few decades makes it important for a new pension system with broad and adequate coverage to be put in place quickly. Pension reforms, first initiated in 1997, have become bogged down in difficulties over dealing with the "legacy costs"...