This work studies and develops tools to quantify and manage the risks and uncertainty relating to the pricing of annuities in the long run. To this end, an idealized Monte-Carlo simulation model is formulated, estimated and implemented, which enables one to investigate some typical pension and...

This thesis consists of an introductory chapter and three essays, all of which aim to study the functioning of a small open economy. The thesis starts with an investigation of export and import price determination and moves to a small open economy DSGE model framework in order to study the role...

This study comprises an introductory section and three essays analysing Russia’s economic transition from the early 1990s up to the present. The papers present a combination of both theoretical and empirical analysis on some of the key issues Russia has faced during its somewhat troublesome...

This thesis consists of four essays in empirical macroeconomics. The first three essays examine the conduct of monetary policy during a disinflationary and deflationary era, with the policy interest rates close to or at the zero bound. The questions of interest include the potency of the...

The financial crises in emerging markets in 1997-1999 were preceded by financial liberalisation, rapid surges in capital inflows, increased levels of indebtedness, and then sudden capital outflows. The study contains four essays that extend the different generations of crisis literature and...

To promote the financial stability, there is a need for an early warning system to signal the formation of asset price misalignments. This research provides two novel methods to accomplish this task. Results in this research shows that the conventional unit root tests in modified forms can be...

Most OECD central banks implement monetary policy by supplying reserves to the banking sector with the aim of influencing short-term interbank interest rates. To interpret the monetary policy stance accurately, one needs to be familiar with the mechanism for determining the money market...

This paper examines empirical performance of three different Phillips curve specifications in the euro area. Instead of imposing rational expectations, direct measures, ie OECD forecasts, are used to proxy economic agents’ inflation expectations. Real marginal costs are measured in three...

This collection of seven papers deals with three different areas of econometric applications: consumption, asset prices, and forecasting. The papers apply techniques related to the analysis of unit roots and cointegration methods. <p> The first paper deals with consumption theories and formulates...</p>

This thesis consists of an introductory chapter and four essays on financial contracting theory. In the first essay, we argue that many adverse selection models of standard one-period loan contracts are not robust to changes in market structure. We argue that debt is not an optimal contract in...