This paper analyzes the relationship between stock returns and real activity from the point of view of a general equilibrium, multicountry model of the business cycle. The empirical evidence suggests that there is a relationship between domestic output growth and domestic stock returns which...

This paper analyzes the empirical interdependencies among asset returns, real activity and inflation from a multi-country and international point of view. We find that nominal stock returns are significantly related to inflation only in the U.S, that the U.S. term structure of interest rates...

We examine the relationship between cyclical fluctuations and macroeconomic, institutional, and cultural indicators for 46 countries from Europe and the Mediterranean basin. In the Mediterranean cycles are different: the duration of expansions is shorter; the amplitude of recessions is larger;...

We examine the relationship between institutions, culture and cyclical fluctuations for a sample of 45 European, Middle Eastern and North African countries. Better governance is associated with shorter and less severe contractions and milder expansions. Certain cultural traits, such as lack of...

We date turning points of the reference cycle for 19 countries in the Mediterranean, for selected regions, and for the area. Cycles phases are asymmetric, with expansions lasting, on average, much longer than recessions. Cyclical fluctuations are volatile and not highly correlated across...

We examine the relationship between institutions, culture and cyclical fluctuations for a sample of 45 European, Middle Eastern and North African countries. Better governance is associated with shorter and less severe contractions and milder expansions. Certain cultural traits, such as lack of...

A method to estimate DSGE models using the raw data is proposed. The approach links the observables to the model counterparts via a flexible specification which does not require the model-based component to be located solely at business cycle frequencies, allows the non-model-based component to...

This paper provides a method to estimate time varying coefficients structural VARs which are non-recursive and potentially overidentified. The procedure allows for linear and non-linear restrictions on the parameters, maintains the multi-move structure of standard algorithms and can be used to...

This article proposes an alternative methodology for modeling and forecasting seasonal series. The approach is in the Bayesian autoregression tradition pioneered by Doan, Litterman, and Sims and builds seasonality directly into the prior of the coefficients of the model by means of a set of...

This paper introduces Lagrange multiplier tests of the null hypothesis of no unit roots at seasonal frequencies against the alternative of a unit root at either a single seasonal frequency or a set of seasonal frequencies. The tests complement those of D. Dickey, D. Hasza, and W. Fuller (1984)...