Lucas' (1967) adjustment costs model and Kydland and Prescott's (1982) time-to-build model induce mutually exclusive time-series properties that can be recovered from data. This paper investigates three variants of a theoretical model which give insight into the parameter restrictions implied by...

Variations between the diverse pension systems in the member states of the European Union hamper labour market mobility, across country borders but also within the countries of the European Union. From a macroeconomic perspective, and in the light of demographic pressure, this paper argues that...

The aim of this study is to analyse the price developments and to compare national macroeconomic policies in response to the consumer prices that started to soar in 2007 across the European Neighbourhood Policy countries, the other arcelona countries2, Russia, the Gulf Cooperation Council...

Soaring food and energy prices sparked the revolts in Northern African countries at the end of 2010. Despite government subsidies, consumer price inflation rose, which reduced consumers’ purchasing power. This article empirically investigates the impact of world food prices on inflation and...

There seems to be a general perception that the exchange rate pass-through is the most important channel in the transmission process of monetary policy in Albania. This perception is questioned here in light of the altering relationships in this developing economy. A discussion on the...

This paper discusses the endeavours of policy makers to come to some degree of wage coordination among EU countries, aiming at aligning wage growth with labour productivity growth at the national levels. In this context, we analyse the wage and productivity developments in Germany, the European...

Demographic change across the globe puts pressure on labour markets and public finances. Most studies on ageing focus on the projected development of the old age dependency ratio, being the ratio of persons 65 or older relative to the working age population. This ratio gives a very incomplete...

This Discussion Paper defines the Communication Strategy for Inflation Targeting of the Central Bank of Albania as the objective of increasing and reaching the (full) awareness of the public on monetary policy issues, in general, and Inflation Targeting, in particular. The Paper distinguishes...

Relations between national public and private savings, domestic investment, and the current account are analyzed with the Global Econometric Model (National Institute, London). Simulation results obtained with this full modeling approach for the US, Japan, Germany and the UK are compared with...

The demographic structure of Egypt has the form of a pyramid, indicating that labour supply will grow at a relatively high rate for many years to come. Unless emigration flows will rise, Egypt needs to create jobs at a much higher pace than most other countries around the globe to absorb the new...