Calculation of purchasing power parities based on observed consumer behaviour typically relies on the existence of some kind of 'international preferences'. We argue that this unrealistic assumption can be abandoned in 'regional' studies of purchasing power, where prices in both territories...

Calculation of purchasing power parities based on observed consumer behaviour typically relies on the existence of some kind of 'international preferences'. We argue that this unrealistic assumption can be abandoned in 'regional' studies of purchasing power, where prices in both territories...

High levels of subprime consumer debt can create social problems. We test the effects of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) bailouts during the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 crisis, respectively, on this debt. We use over 11 million credit...

High levels of subprime consumer debt can create social problems. We test the effects of the TARP and PPP bailouts during the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 crisis, respectively, on this debt. We use over 11-million credit-bureau observations of individual consumer debt combined with...

This paper reviews and synthetises three areas: The International Comparison Program (ICP), purchasing power parity (PPP) and patterns of household expenditure across countries. To compare countries consistently, the ICP uses relative price levels as PPPs. This approach is seemingly different to...

This paper assesses the effects of the changes of the Value Added Tax (VAT) rates in Italy for the period 1988-1997, questioning their overall redistributive impact compared with an equal-revenue proportional tax rate. By using the theory of marginal tax reforms and the AWARETAX microsimulation...

International spillovers and exchange rate dynamics are examined in a two-country dynamic optimizing model that allows for idiosyncratic tastes across countries. Specifically, there is a home-good bias in consumption patterns: at given relative prices the ratio of home goods consumed to foreign...