This paper proposes a procedure for testing alternative specifications of the short term interest rate's dynamics which takes into account that according to some restrictions the interest rate is nonstationary, i.e. the traditional test statistic has a non-standard distribution. Moreover, we do...

This study aims to analyze the impact of macroeconomic variables, especially the prime rate of the economy, on the interest margin (spread) charged by Brazilian banks from 2000 to 2010. To achieve this goal, the study adopted the behavior model of the banking firm developed by Ho and Saunders...