Computed fundamental real exchange rates in four acceding countries point out to difficulties in entering the ERM II too soon after the EU entry. Computations suggest that it is unlikely for the Czech, Hungarian and Polish economies to maintain low inflation during 2004-2010, and at the same...

Inflation persistence has been put forward as one of the potential reasons of divergence among euro area members. It has also been proposed that the new EU Member States (NMS) may struggle with even higher persistence due to convergence factors. We argue that persistence may not be as different...

We examine whether central banks’ voting records help predict the future course of monetary policy in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, controlling for financial market expectations. Unlike previous research, first, we examine the period of the global...

We examine the effect of natural resource exports on economic performance during the 1996-2011 period in the 15 independent countries that formerly comprised the Soviet Union. These countries were a largely homogeneous group with respect to social and institutional context; however, these...

We develop a comprehensive index of the transparency of central banks regarding their policy framework to promote financial stability for 110 countries from 2000 to 2011 and examine the determinants and effects of this transparency. We find that the degree of transparency increased in the 2000s,...

In this paper we examine a financial accelerator hypothesis analyzing the determinants of firm-level interest rates. Using a panel of the financial statements of 448 Czech firms in 1996- 2002, we find that firm’s balance sheet indicators are important determinant for the firm-level interest...

In this paper, we examine the effects of Czech monetary policy on the economy within VAR and the structural VAR framework. We document well-functioning transmission mechanism similar to the euro area countries, especially in terms of persistence of monetary policy shocks. Subject to various...

The paper provides an empirical analysis of inflation persistence in the Czech Republic using 412 detailed product-level consumer price indexes underlying the consumer basket over the period from 1994:M1 to 2005:M12. Subject to various sensitivity tests, our results suggest that raw goods and...

This paper estimates the medium-term determinants of the bilateral exchange rate variability and exchange rate pressures for 20 developed countries in the 1990s. The results suggest that optimum currency area criteria explain the dynamics of bilateral exchange rate variability and pressures, to...

The objective of this paper is twofold. First, we provide an introduction on estimation and methodology of the real equilibrium exchange rate. Second, we discuss to what extent are these estimates applicable for setting the central parity. Given the uncertainty surrounding the estimates, they...