It has been argued that economies with more independent central banks experience lower inflation over time. In this paper we show that this relationship is sensitive to the methodology through which central bank independence indices are constructed. We stress the importance of employing dynamic...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the operational efficiency of microfinance institutions. Using a cross section of 750 microfinance institutions operating in Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, the analysis shows that operating costs and efficiency are negatively related....

Corruption presents many legal and regulatory challenges, but these challenges cannot be met by the law in isolation. This book presents economic analysis of crime as an essential tool for shaping an effective legal apparatus. The authors contend that in order to assess whether and how to...

This discussion paper critically reviews a new book by Aoki and Yokishawa and presents some of the techniques adopted by the authors as a new approach to the foundations of macroeconomics. The paper discusses some of the main techniques of statistical mechanics relevant in this context, namely...

This paper calculates indices of central bank autonomy (CBA) for 163 central banks as of end-2003, and comparable indices for a subgroup of 68 central banks as of the end of the 1980s. The results confirm strong improvements in both economic and political CBA over the past couple of decades,...

Electronic money (e-money), as a network good, could become an important form of currency in the future. Such a development could affect monetary policy effectiveness. If an increased use of e-money substantially limits the demand for central bank reserves, this limitation would require changes...

This paper presents a survey of the literature on the measurement of central bank autonomy. We distinguish inputs that constitute the building blocks in the literature, and the literature that builds on them. Issues including sensitivity analysis, robustness, and endogeneity are discussed. The...

La scelta di localizzazione di investimenti segue un complesso processo di valutazione nel quale molte variabili devono essere conosciute e sintetizzate. In questo lavor le regioni del Mezzogiorno vengono analizzate singolarmente e poste a confronto con alcune aree europee, e con la Lombardia....

This paper is a review of the different approaches on external debt sustainability. The Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative was launched to assure a permanent exit from debt dependence. However, the IMF-World Bank program is not without faults, in particular for what concerns debt...

This paper builds on the Blanchard and Giavazzi (2003) model of deregulation. We concentrate on product market to construct a framework explaining in a more nuanced way the redistributive effects of deregulation between sectors and within the same sector, and possible oppositions to this policy...