We study optimal hedging design for returns on an Italian equity mutual fund index since 2008. Alternative hedging instruments include one-month futures contracts for FTSE-MIB, FTSE100 and Xetra DAX. We use bivariate models of our Italian equity mutual fund index and each hedging instrument to...

Some researchers, for example, Koop [1], and Sims [2], have advocated for Bayesian alternatives to unit-root testing over the classical approach using the augmented Dickey-Fuller test (ADF). This paper studies the power of what Koop [1] has called the Objectiveʺ Bayesian approach to unit-root...

This paper introduces a new parametric measure of productivity change using the hyperbolic distance function. More specifically, the paper first estimates a stochastic translog hyperbolic distance function, which satisfies regularity conditions, using the Bayesian approach. Then it derives an...

Today it's frequently used the terms PIGS or PIIGS, acronyms used by economic journalists to refer to different countries of the European Union for their statement of affairs. The bad connotation is evident from the fact that pigs in English suggest the bad state of the economies of these...

This paper offers a specific analysis of speculation bubbles in the economic history of the world, and then tries to identify the causes and effects of the speculation bubble on the real estate market in the USA, which was the main cause of the subprime crisis. The first part of the paper aims...

Die globale Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise hat eine intensive Debatte über eine angemessene Regulierung des Banken- und Finanzsektors ausgelöst. Dabei wird insbesondere die Bedeutung von großen und stark vernetzten Banken für die gesamtwirtschaftliche Stabilität diskutiert. In diesem Beitrag...

Nach dem schwachen Jahresausklang 2012 wird das reale Bruttoinlandsprodukt in Deutschland in diesem Jahr um 0,7 Prozent wachsen. Die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung gewinnt jedoch im Verlauf des Jahres 2013 zunehmend an Kraft, so dass die deutsche Wirtschaft im kommenden Jahr um 1,6 Prozent wachsen...

In recent years the issue of the role of asset prices in monetary setting has become increasingly topical since booms and busts in asset market are associated with the fluctuations in overall economic activity through its impacts on aggregate spending. In this study, we use Smooth Transition...