The paper draws a link between the conditions for low pass-through when there are flexible prices, and local-currency pricing when there are sticky nominal prices. It shows that the condition under which pass-through is less than one-half when prices are flexible is the same as the condition...

This paper analyzes the behavior of current account deficits in Africa and estimates whether the deficits are excessive with respect to fundamentals. The findings are that deficits are (i) not very persistent; (ii) positively linked with domestic growth; (iii) strongly linked with public (and...

This paper examines the impact of trade costs on real exchange rate volatility. We incorporate a multi-country Ricardian model of trade, based on the work of Eaton and Kortum (2002), into a macroeconomic model to show how bilateral real exchange rate volatility depends on relative technological...

Until 2012, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) used its policy rate to stabilise the rial's exchange rate and, given a persistent current-account surplus, had accumulated sizeable currency reserves. In 2012, however, international sanctions against Iran intensified and the value of the rial halved...

This paper examines long memory volatility in international stock markets. We show that long memory volatility is widespread in eighty-two countries and that the degree of memory can be related to macroeconomic variables such as inflation, unemployment rates, interest rates or stability of a...

Using a panel of 11 upper-middle income emerging economies, the paper investigates financial development threshold levels that influence FDI inflows. Our findings show that higher banking sector and stock market development above the threshold levels have a positive and significant impact on FDI...