In this paper we use a new weekly database of scanner-level prices for the Chilean economy to characterize the price-setting behavior in the supermarket industry. This period corresponds to an episode of relatively high inflation marked by a boom and a subsequent bust (from July 2007 to July...

In this paper we use a new database of scanner-level prices for the Chilean economy to characterize the microeconomic behavior of prices during a period of high inflation. We are able to characterize the price-setting behavior by supermarket chain. The evidence indicates that there is...

The increase in global economic volatility due to the ongoing crisis in developed countries and its spillovers to the rest of the world has brought renewed relevance to external shocks as a source of business cycles in emerging market economies. This paper analyzes changes in the impact of...

This paper examines the impact of the copper price on macroeconomic performance in Chile. We explore particular features of the Chilean business cycle focusing on economic activity and the real exchange rate. We find that the Chilean economy has become increasingly resilient to copper price...

Most economic variables are released with a lag, making it difficult for policy-makers to make an accurate assessment of current conditions. This paper explores whether observing Internet browsing habits can inform practitioners about real-time aggregate consumer behavior in an emerging market....

In this paper we study, from an empirical point of view, the determinants of the real exchange rate (RER). Relative to the vast previous literature on this topic we aim to distinguish the impact of two important components of government expenditure—public investment and transfers—on the RER,...

In this paper we study the effect of NAFTA on the responsiveness of the Mexican economy to real exchange rate shocks. We argue that, by opening the U.S. and Canadian markets to Mexican goods, NAFTA made it easier for domestic producers to take advantage of the opportunities brought by the...

We study empirically if countries that default on their debt experience a reduction in their capital inflows as suggested by the literature. Our data contains information on (i) the defaulter countries and their creditors and (ii) bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. With this we can...