Financial Markets have undoubtedly played a crucial role in the economic development and technological growth the world has experienced over the last century. The availability of liquid markets greatly facilitates the opportunities of raising capital and risk sharing, allowing the financing of...

This paper evaluates the effect of the introduction of the ITF on Spanish shares in secondary markets, focusing on the potential costs. For this purpose, it considers several dimensions of liquidity (measured through the bid-ask spread and the Amihud ratio), volatility (both intraday and...

In this paper we assess the current relevance of Ricardian theory. Relative prices, labor costs, and productivity are evaluated as determinants of a country's international competitiveness at the industry level. Working with detailed data on unit values and with industry data on productivity, we...

All micro studies of demand are based on using time series cross sectional data. Because in such data each household is only observed once, it is only under strong identifying restrictions that one can interpret the coefficients on consumer behavior. For example, if tastes are correlated with...

Recovery in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain is held back in part by structural barriers. Overcoming these requires structural reform and public investment. Given the limited availability of political and financial capital, prioritising reform efforts and spending is important, but difficult....