We analyze the contracting out of public service provision to private firms and compare the performance of for-profit and non-for-profit firms. We consider two alternative settings.In the first,the firm has control rights, as under the UK's Private Finance Initiative(PFI). In the second,the...

In this article we estimate the order of integration of the volatility process of several exchange rates and stock returns using fractionally integrated semiparametric techniques,namely a local Whittle semiparametric estimator. The results suggest that all series can be well described in terms...

Vector autoregressions (VARs) are an important tool in time series analysis. However, relatively little is known about the finite-sample behaviour of parameter estimators. We address this issue, by investigating ordinary least squares (OLS) estimators given a data generating process that is a...

A monetary economy subject to expectational sunspots is prone to instability, in the sense of multiple rational expectations equilibria. We show how to modify the policy rule to guarantee stability in the presence of expectational sunspots. The policy-maker must co-ordinate inflation dynamics by...

This paper examines the relationship between monetary policy and asset prices in the context of empirical policy rules. We begin our analysis by establishing the forecasting ability of house and stock price changes with respect to future aggregate demand. We then report estimates of monetary...

This paper considers migration as an investment decision. It develops a continuoustime stochastic model to explain the optimal timing of migration, in the presence of ongoing uncertainty over wage differentials. The results show that individuals prefer to wait before migrating, even if the...

In a recent paper, Yoon (2003) shows that the Stochastic Unit Root (STUR) model is closely related to long memory processes, and, in particular, that it is a special case of an I(d) process, with d = 1.5. In this paper we further examine this issue by using parametric and semiparametric...

Coe and Helpman (1995) among others report positive and equivalent R&D spillovers across groups of countries. However, the nature of their econometric tests does not address the heterogeneity of knowledge diffusion across countries. We empirically examine these issues in a sample of 10 OECD...