Financial Conditions Indexes (FCIs) are analytical tools devised to synthesize the information contained in a set of financial variables in order to identify how financial conditions affect economic activity. In this paper, for each of the three main Central and Eastern EU member states outside...

This paper investigates the role of unconventional monetary policy as a source of time-variation in the relationship between sovereign bond yield spreads and their fundamental determinants. Our results provide evidence of a new bond-pricing regime following the announcement of the Outright...

This paper investigates the role of unconventional monetary policy as a source of time-variation in the relationship between sovereign bond yield spreads and their fundamental determinants. We use a two-step empirical approach. First, we apply a time-varying parameter panel modelling framework...

This paper investigates the role of unconventional monetary policy as a source of time-variation in the relationship between sovereign bond yield spreads and their fundamental determinants. Our results provide evidence of a new bond-pricing regime following the announcement of the Outright...

This paper investigates whether gold and silver can be considered safe havens by examining their long-run linkages with 22 stock price indices. More specifically, the stochastic properties of the differential between gold/silver prices and 22 stock indices are analysed applying fractional...

The financial market turbulence in 1998, as other crises previously, produced strong price movements in the securities markets worldwide. This reflected, first, a general reassessment of credit risk, and, second, a drying-up of liquidity even in some of the largest mature securities markets. As...

Recent academic research predicts that (i) equity mutual funds have a systematically better performance during periods of economic downturn and (ii) investors are willing to pay high fees for funds that provide recession insurance. In this paper, we test these hypotheses using international fund...

This paper investigates whether gold and silver can be considered safe havens by examining their long-run linkages with 22 stock price indices. More specifically, the stochastic properties of the differential between gold/silver prices and 22 stock indices are analysed applying fractional...

We study the determinants of sovereign debt ratings from the three main international rating agencies, for the period 1995-2005. Using linear and ordered response models we employ a specification that allows us to distinguish between short and long-run effects, on a country's rating, of...

This paper extends the economic growth model tested by Levine and Zervos (1998) by including a measure for capital allocation efficiency proxied by stock price informativeness. Using a sample of 59 countries, this study finds that stock price informativeness as measured by firm-specific return...