The paper examines the determinants of inflation in some West African countries. Using the Johansen technique and time series between 1970q1 and 2010q4 the study determines whether inflation in these African countries is mainly imported (via import prices and exchange rate movements) or...

This study investigated the impact of external debt on economic growth of Tanzania for the period of 1990-2010. The study used time series data on external debt and economic performance. It is assumed that external debt helps developing countries to meet developing needs. While debt servicing...

We present a medium-scale dynamic factor model to estimate and forecast the rate of growth of the Spanish economy in the very short term. The intermediate size of the model overcomes the serious specification problems associated with large scale-models and the implicit loss of information of...

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...

This paper sets out a comprehensive framework to identify regional business cycles within Spain and analyses their stylised features and the degree of synchronisation both within them and between them and the Spanish economy. We show that the regional cycles are quite heterogeneous although they...

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...

The monetary transmission mechanisms have influence on saving and investment decisions of firms and households by affecting their balance sheets. This study examines the effects of monetary policy through the balance sheet channel (also known as ‘financial accelerator’), which affects net...

Die Industrie in Deutschland hat bis zum dritten Quartal das Produktionsniveau des Vorjahres knapp halten können. Sie stand einer im Jahresverlauf stark rückläufigen Nachfrage aus dem Inland und dem Euroraum und einer leicht steigenden Nachfrage aus dem Nicht-Euroraum gegenüber. Für das...