This paper studies the effect on monetary policy of a non-homogeneous degree of competition across the (two) members of a monetary union. In particular, we assess the welfare loss brought about by the use of a simple interest rate rule that does not take into account such structural differences....

Using the Korean manufacturing firm-level data, this paper confirms that three stylized facts on importing hold in Korea: the ratio of imported inputs in total inputs tends to be pro-cyclical; the use of imported inputs increases productivity; and larger firms are more likely to use imported...

In an Islamic economy, the financial sector functions to support the real sector. There are no interest rate based debt instruments. Financial assets are based on risk and return sharing and are contingent claims. Real as well as monetary forces determine the rate of return. As in traditional...

The credit risk exposure of the German banking system is growing again after the 2009 peak and its subsequent reduction. This column comments it through the lens of the Target2 net balances in connection with the capital flows experienced by the Eurozone (EZ) balance of payments. Several aspects...

This paper has three main objectives, namely to (a) propose a new framework that can support placing countries along a core-periphery continuum (beyond the more common binary treatment as either core or periphery), (b) to construct a continuous dynamic theory-based measure (the first, to the...

As austerity policies are unpopular with voters and high levels of debt are a drag on growth a number of economists, most famously C. Reinhart and K. Rogoff, suggest that governments might have to consider financial repression as way out of the debt trap. We maintain that an exit from financial...

The economy is heterogeneous, complex, dynamic, interdependent and interactive. This new market paradigm developed for analyzing economic behaviors gives a holistic analysis of the system by employing the Behavioral Systems Approach, Cobweb Theorem and Evolutionary Game Theory in obtaining the...

This paper studies a New Keynesian model of a two-country world with a zero lower bound (ZLB) constraint for nominal interest rates. A floating exchange rate regime is assumed. The presence of the ZLB generates multiple equilibria. The two countries can experience recurrent liquidity traps...

Resource utilization, or "slack", is widely held to be an important determinant of inflation dynamics. As the world has become more globalized in recent decades, some have argued that the concept of slack that is relevant is global rather than domestic (the "global slack hypothesis"). This line...