Standard models-based exclusively on macro-financial variables-have made little progress in explaining the behavior of exchange rates. In this paper, we introduce a neglected set of 'soft power' factors capturing a country's demographic, institutional, political and social underpinnings to...

As is well known, ignoring spatial heterogeneity leads to biased parameter estimates, while omitting the spatial lag of a dependent variable results in biasness and inconsistency (Anselin, 1988). However, the common approach to analysing households' expenditures is to ignore the potential...