This note sheds new light on the dynamic properties of maintenance and repair and examines the behavior of an additional form of capital spending - that of improvements. The analysis examines a unique long-run data set on Swiss road spending.

In this paper, we examine external, monetary, and structural determinants of crosscountry variation in reserve volatility for 30 emerging market economies from 1973 to 2000. We find that reserve holdings and openness to be the most important determinants of reserve volatility. These results are...

In this article, we demonstrate that a small degree of stochastic variation in the depreciation rate of capital can greatly reduce the comovement between hours worked and labor productivity in a neoclassical growth model. The depreciation rate is modeled as a Markov process to place a strict...

To the surprise of many market watchers, Thailand's exchange-rate peg to the dollar collapsed in July 1997, leading to similar rounds of currency devaluations in other East Asian countries. This study seeks to determine if there were identifiable contrasts in implementation between Thailand's...

This paper investigates the impact of international swap lines on stock returns using data from banks in emerging markets. The analysis shows that swap lines by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) had a positive impact on bank stocks in Central and Eastern Europe. It then highlights the importance of...

This paper investigates the impact of international swap lines on stock returns using data from banks in emerging markets. The analysis shows that swap lines by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) had a positive impact on bank stocks in Central and Eastern Europe. It then highlights the importance of...