The introduction of the euro in 1999 is without any doubt one of the great achievements in the European integration process. In one bold stroke, national monetary sovereignty was abolished and transferred to a new European institution, the European Central Bank, that from then on became the...

Professor Christopher Pissarides was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics jointly with Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen ‘for their analysis of markets with search frictions’. Though Pissarides is best known for his work in this area, it is only part of a very extensive research agenda...

While interest in social determinants of individual behavior has led to a rich theoretical literature and many efforts to measure these influences, a mature “social econometrics” has yet to emerge. This chapter provides a critical overview of the identification of social interactions. We...

This article provides a brief overview of the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a driver of productivity. In particular, it focuses on the diffusion of computers and the Internet at the workplace and discusses the relationship with wages, the task composition of...

Risk arbitrage involves the purchase of a target firm's shares on the announcement of a merger or tender offer. These transactions provide a risky profit opportunity when the price of the target is below the risk-adjusted expected value of the final takeover price. This article explores the role...

We provide an overview of the rapidly evolving literature on shadow credit intermediation. The shadow banking system consists of a web of specialised financial institutions that conduct credit, maturity, and liquidity transformation without direct, explicit access to public backstops. The lack...

Thomas J. Sargent is the 2011 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (along with Christopher Sims). Sargent has been instrumental in the development of rational expectations economics. The central idea behind this approach is that individuals should not make systematic mistakes. Yet...