We investigate the relation between existing fiscal rules and investments in the context of a fiscal crisis in Brazil. We analyze existing fiscal rules at national and subnational levels, their enforcement, and proposed alternatives. Using narrative analysis, case studies, interviews, empirical...

This paper investigates the major drivers of the public debt growth in 184 countries. Our analysis consists in a cross-country survey, which is conducted on the basis of the improved compilation of datasets on the central government debt for 2013. In order to differentiate between...

We study the evolution of the control structure of 141 privatized firms from OECD countries over the period from 1996 through 2000. We find that governments do not relinquish control after privatization. We show that the market-to-book ratios of privatized firms converge through time to those of...

Starting from a system of factor demands, an empirical model that allows estimating factor-augmenting technical change is derived. Factor-augmenting technical change is defined as the improvement in factor productivities that can occur either exogenously or endogenously, with changes in other...

This paper assesses that participation of countries in IMF programs significantly diminishes their vulnerability to external shocks. Currently, one of the primary purposes of the IMF is to ensure global stability. As such, the Fund has the responsibility of advising member countries on the...

The aim of this paper is to investigate how major net oil exporter economies react to oil price shocks. We contribute to the literature by considering, at the same time, the possible nonlinearity and asymmetry of this relationship with respect to sign, size and causes of the oil price shocks, as...

In this note we present an updated algorithm to estimate the VAR with stochastic volatility proposed in Mumtaz (2018). The model is re-written so that some of the Metropolis Hastings steps are avoided.

Recent studies on oil market demonstrate endogeneity of oil price by modeling it as a function of consumption and precautionary demands and producers’ supply. However, studies analysing the effect of oil price uncertainty on investment, do not disentangle uncertainties raised by underlying...

Stagflation, a simultaneous increase in inflation and unemployment, is generally thought to result from exogenous oil shocks. In this paper, we investigate another potential source of stagflation focusing on tariffs. Relying on the estimation of structural VAR model with sign restrictions over...