This paper demonstrates the bullwhip effect in a simple framework and tests its predictions using US industry level import data. I show that after final goods suffer a demand shock, upstream suppliers face a greater volatility of sales than their downstream counterparts and might even lose sales...

The failure of trade economists to anticipate the extreme drop in trade post-Lehman Brothers bankruptcy suggests that the behaviour of trade in exceptional circumstances may still be poorly understood. In this paper we explore whether uncertainty shocks have explanatory power for movements in...

We examine the correlation between the generosity of clinicians – as measured in a laboratory experiment – and the quality of care in their normal practices under three different intrinsic incentive schemes. Specifically, we observe clinicians in their normal work environment, when a peer...

After Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in September 2008, cross-border bank lending contracted sharply. To explain the severity and variation in this contraction, we analyse detailed data on cross-border syndicated lending by 75 banks to 59 countries. We find that banks that had to write...

In this paper we explore the extent to which firms engaged in international trade and FDI activities share profits. We allow for differences not only between domestic and foreign owned firms, but also between firms with outward FDI, importers and exporters. We argue that firms engaged in...

This paper reviews the origin and spread of the distressed debt problem in the transition region. We argue that while the crisis was triggered abroad, the current high level of distressed debt in various transition countries mainly reflects home-grown vulnerabilities. As in the West, the root...

This paper shows how the crisis has evolved in south-eastern Europe and why this region was affected by developments that originated elsewhere. It argues that the impact has been better than many feared and that this resilience can be attributed in large part to the mature and sensible reaction...

This paper provides an overview of private sector activity and investment in south-eastern Europe (SEE). The importance of the private sector is growing in all countries of the region. The private sector is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and much economic activity takes...

Regulatory reform in the power sector of most transition economies has progressed. Regulatory independence, however, is still limited with direct (statutory) and indirect political input influencing decision making. Further reform is required to secure power tariff increases and private sector...

This paper reviews recent stock market developments in Poland and the Czech Republic and provides a case-study of the direction of causality between stock market expansion and economic growth. It finds no evidence that the relative failure of the security market in the Czech Republic affected...