This paper assesses how financial market participants form their expectations about future government bond spreads. Using monthly survey forecasts for France, Italy and the UK between January 1993 and December 2011, we test whether respondents consider the expected evolution of the fiscal...

This paper analyzes the incentives of a government facing electoral uncertainty to implement structural reforms in the presence of a deficit restriction. In designing a reform package, the government faces a trade-off between enhancing its electoral chances by providing compensation to private...

A key strategic issue for banks is the implementation of internet banking. The 'click and mortar' model that complements classical branch banking with online facilities is competing with pure internet banks. The objective of this paper is to compare the performance of these two models across...

A key strategic issue for banks is the relative success of pure Internet banks and internet banking facilities offered by existing banks as part of an overall banking strategy (the click and mortar model). The object of the paper is to compare the performance of the two models across countries:...

Budget forecasts have become increasingly important as a tool of fiscal management to influence expectations of bond markets and the public at large. The inherent difficulty in projecting macroeconomic variables – together with political bias – thwart the accuracy of budget forecasts. We...

History tells that institutions evolve gradually over time, pushing new ideas across borders and cultures. Globalization is argued to accelerate this process. We examine the spatial links of different political institutions across borders. Applying various tests for spatial proximity, we do not...