We assess whether two classes of bubbles occur in the spot price of gold, rational speculative and periodically bursting bubbles, using gold's' lease rates for the first time in the literature as a measures of its fundamental value. This question is of particular significance as these are the...

We explore whether financial development reduces external investment financing constraints for firms. Within-country provincial measures of financial development are linked to investment usingdata from the Vietnamese enterprise survey (VES). We focus on three main aspects of...

Until recently, government procurement bidding processes have generally favored domestic firms by awarding the contract to a domestic firm even if a foreign firm tenders a lower bid, so long as the difference between the two is sufficiently small. This has been replaced by an agreement...

Political independence is usually associated with an attempt to reduce economic dependency on the dominant or former colonial power. For most of the early period since Irish independence the attempt to reduce exposure to the UK was implemented through tariff protection and restrictions on...

Ireland's net external liability position expanded in dramatic fashion during 2008-2010, despite relatively small net financial flows during this period. Understanding the the source and persistence of this negative shock is critically important in assessing the future path for the Irish...

For the set of EMU member countries, we examine cyclical patterns in fiscal outcomes. We find that there is significant time variation in fiscal cyclicality, with an improvement in the wake of the Maastricht Treaty but a deterioration after the creation of EMU. Furthermore, we show that the...

This paper provides an empirical review of the dynamics of international capital áows, with a focus on emerging Asia. Next, it outlines the various channels by which international capital flows affect domestic financial conditions in the host economies. Finally, it explores the implications for...

Through a comparison with dispute resolution procedures in NAFTAÕs Side Agreements, this paper demonstrates that three of the ECJÕs most important decisions Ð Van Gend en Loos, Costa v Enel, and Commission v Luxembourg and Belgium Ð should be understood as combining to reorganize general...

The aviation industry is characterized by low profit margins and a constant struggle with skyrocketing fuel costs. Financial and operational hedging strategies serve aviation managers as a tool to counteract high and volatile fuel prices. While most research on fuel hedging has concentrated on...

We examine whether the cross-country incidence and severity of the 2008-2009 global recession is systematically related to pre-crisis macroeconomic and financial factors. We find that the pre-crisis level of development, increases in the ratio of private credit to GDP, current account deficits,...