Several countries around the world have adopted the inflation targeting regime for monetary policy. Despite the growing literature on the issue, it is not clear whether developing and emerging countries can improve their economic performance by adopting inflation targeting. This working paper...

Las causas de la explosión de desempleo y de la escasa creación de empleos ocurridas en la Argentina hasta 1995 y sus perspectivas futuras son los dos hilos conductores de este documento. Aquí se presenta una interpretación que se profundiza para el caso de la Argentina.

In recent research age distribution effects on the current account have been found in cross-country panel regressions. The reason is different effects on saving and investment from cohort-size variation. In a panel of annual OECD data 1960-1995, we find that the age effects on saving are similar...

This paper describes the tax systems of OECD advanced economies and assesses the entity's recommendations on tax policy, applying them to the debate around tax reform in Brazil. It is not meant as a guide for OECD taxation to be copied by Brazil, but rather to provide tools to better foster the...

In a classic article, Granger (1966) asserted that most economic time series measured in level have spectra that exhibit a smooth declining shape with considerable power at very low frequencies. There has been no systematic attempt to examine Granger,s assertion with international data. We...

This paper explores the existence of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) in 19 OECD countries, over the period 1973-1999, using data for hourly nominal wages at industry level. Based on a novel nonparametric statistical method, which allows for country and year specific variation in both the...

This paper explores the existence of downward real wage rigidity (DRWR) in 19 OECD countries, over the period 1973-1999, using data for hourly nominal earnings at industry level. Based on a nonparametric statistical method, which allows for country and year specific variation in both the median...

A number of recent studies have documented extensive downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) for job stayers in many OECD countries. However, DNWR for individual workers may induce downward rigidity or "a floor" for the aggregate wage growth at positive or negative levels. Aggregate wage growth...

Despite the rapid rise in cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the past twenty years, there has been little attention paid to what determines their patterns and, in particular, what influences their behaviour over time. Employing a panel database this paper models the behaviour of foreign...

The self-employed are a heterogeneous group. Some are self-employed because they are good at it, while others are self-employed because they cannot find a better paying salaried job. Data from the CPS for prime age males show that workers are almost twice as likely to enter self-employment from...