We examine whether the inflation rates of the countries that pursue inflation targeting policies have converged as opposed to the experience of the OECD non-inflation targeters. Using a methodology introduced by Pesaran (2007a), we examine the stationarity properties of the inflation...

We address the issue of whether financial structure influences economic growth. Three competing views of financial structure exist in the literature: the bank-based, the market-based and the financial services view. Recent empirical studies examine their relevance by utilizing panel and...

Equity prices have been falling since March 2000. How far can they fall before they reach bottom? The current bear market differs from the mid-1970s plunge in equity prices in terms of the causes and, consequently, the factors that should be monitored to test its progress. In the 1970s, the bear...

This study considers the effects of financial development on output in a panel cointegration framework, focusing on the implications of trade and financial openness. Our analysis indicates that after controlling for cross-sectional dependence, the typical relationship between finance and output...

Practical monetary policy concerns and recent theoretical developments have revived interest in the concept of a "natural" equilibrium real interest rate. The natural real interest rate is potentially an important concept for monetary policy makers and some researchers have suggested that the...

We consider the relative effects of globalisation and regionalism in the context of recent developments in the world economy. We extend and advance the work of Chortareas and Pelagidis using the recently updated Penn World Tables data. This allows consideration of the recent 'golden era' of...

We examine the conduct of monetary policy as implemented by the European Central Bank (ECB) throughout the euro area. Two distinct but closely related approaches are utilized, both of which rely on the assumption that monetary policy can be usefully characterized in terms of a simple Taylor...

This contribution investigates the channels through which the relationship between financial deepening and growth materializes. While this relationship has been extensively explored over the recent past, less attention has been paid to the channels through which the relationship comes about. In...