This paper estimates the natural real interest rate that is consistent with stable inflation and output at its potential for the euro area and Luxembourg. The natural interest rate provides a benchmark for assessing the monetary policy stance, as policy is contractionary when real interest rates...

The main instrument of monetary policy in industrialized countries is currently a short-term interest rate. It typically remains unchanged during long spans of time. This paper tries to answer three questions. Why do Central Banks change targeted interest rates so seldom? How should we estimate...

Almost all institutions - employment protection legislation, unions, wages, wage structure, unemployment insurance, etc. - have been alleged and found guilty to have caused this tragic development at some point in the long history of rising and persistent unemployment in Europe. US labor market...

This paper studies the dynamic response of a few key macroeconomic variables to each one of three exogenous shocks: monetary, government spending and technological shocks. By using a cash in advance model with two market frictions, one in the intermediation of loanable funds, and one in the...

In this paper a new fully nonparametric estimator of the diffusion coefficient is introduced, based on Fourier analysis of the observed trajectory. The proposed estimator is proved to be consistent and asymptotically normally distributed. After testing the estimator on Monte Carlo simulations,...

A growing literature integrates theories of debt management into models of optimal fiscal policy. One promising theory argues that the composition of government debt should be chosen so that fluctuations in the market value of debt offset changes in expected future deficits. This complete market...

Entgegen früherer Studien, die darauf hinweisen, dass der gesamte Credit Spread eines Bonds durch das mit diesem Bond verbundene Kreditrisiko induziert ist, zeigen neuere empirische Untersuchungen, dass neben Kreditrisiken noch weitere Faktoren die Höhe des Credit Spreads determinieren. Die...

The German current account balance has moved from surplus to deßcit in the course of unificalion. A theorelical model for the current account, encompassing the elaslicities, the monetary, and the absorptions approach, is set up and lested for Germany and the United States, using cointegration...

The German population is aging. Since fewer children are born and simultaneously life expectancy rises, demographic changes will lead to a double aging process. The paper analyzes the effects of demographic changes on the public budget by applying a cointegration analysis to global budget...

Statistische Prognosen basieren auf der Annahme, dass ein funktionaler Zusammenhang zwischen der zu prognostizierenden Variable y und anderen j-dimensional beobachtbaren Variablen x = (x1,...xl) besteht. Kann der funktionale Zusammenhang geschätzt werden, so kann im Prinzip für jedes x der...