This paper is a response to the literature that tests for cointegration between national stock market indices. It argues that apparent findings of cointegration in other studies may often be due to the use of asymptotic, rather than small-sample, critical values. In fact, economic theory...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country

This paper provides evidence that cross-sectional wage inequality in the U.K. rose sharply in the 1980s, continued to rise moderately through the mid-1990s and has remained essentially unchanged since then. As in the U.S., increases in within-group inequality account for a substantial fraction...

The United Kingdom’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that macroeconomic performance has been strong and steady, owing in part to confidence-enhancing policy frameworks and generally sound implementation. The financial system is generally healthy, although a substantial increase in the...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that United Kingdom’s real GDP growth is estimated at about 3 percent in 2004 and is expected to stay stable at about 21⁄2 percent in 2005–06, in line with potential growth. Domestic demand remains the key driver of growth, underpinned by...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the impact of globalization on United Kingdom’s inflation and relative prices over the last decade. The IMF’s Global Economy Model (GEM) is used to estimate the relative importance of the various factors argued to have influenced the evolution of inflation...

Many studies on International tax compaisons have been undertaken since the early 1970s. While controversial, such studies have facilitated more subtle comparisons of a country's tax performance than would be afforded by focusing on its simple tax ratio

This 2006 Article IV Consultation highlights that macroeconomic performance in the United Kingdom remains impressive. After softer growth in 2005, the acceleration in GDP in 2006 was broadly based. Business investment was boosted by high net rates of return; private consumption by robust...

The Selected Issues paper examines the dynamics of the inflation process in the United Kingdom, particularly the influence of external shocks. The paper provides a brief summary of existing empirical work. It presents the expectations-augmented Phillips curve model used in the analysis. The...

This report assesses HMRC’s tax gap analysis program and provides advice and guidance on further improving it. The report addresses three aspects of the program: (1) the models and methodologies employed; (2) the approach to disseminating the results; and (3) the use of the results in supporting...