1,720,975 research outputs found
Hedging Behaviour of Czech Exporting Firms
The hedging behaviour of Czech exporting firms is analysed using questionnaire information and interviews with banks. Approximately 60% of the 184 firms surveyed hedge their FX exposures, and about 88% of their exports are hedged. Most exporters use natural hedging, i.e. they balance incoming and outgoing payments in foreign currency as well as foreign currency assets and liabilities. Hedgers on financial markets prefer forwards and zero-cost option structures, as they are reluctant to pay option premiums. The typical maturity of financial instruments is three months to one year. More than one half of exporters hedge consistently, while around 60% hedge actively, taking advantage of currency moves. Our simple model of hedging behaviour for example suggests that trading within a group reduces the need for hedging.Exchange rate exposure, exchange rate risk, exports, hedging behaviour.
Central Bank Forecasts as a Coordination Device
Do private analysts coordinate their forecasts via central bank forecasts? In this paper, we examine private and central bank forecasts for the Czech Republic. The evolution of the standard deviation of private forecasts as well as the distance from the central bank’s forecasts are used to study whether a coordination effect exists, how it is influenced by uncertainty, and the effects of changes in central bank communication. The results suggest that private analysts coordinate their forecasts for the interest rate and inflation, while no or limited evidence exists for the exchange rate and GDP growth.Central bank, coordination, forecast.
Inflation Persistence in New EU Member States: Is It Different Than in the Euro Area Members?
Is inflation persistence in the new EU Member States (NMS) comparable to that in the euro area countries? We argue that persistence may not be as different between the two country groups as one might expect. We confirm that one should work carefully with the usual estimation methods when analyzing the NMS, given the scope of the convergence process they went through. We show that due to frequent breaks in inflation time series in the NMS, parametric statistical measures assuming a constant mean deliver substantially higher persistence estimates for the NMS than for the euro area countries. Employing a time-varying mean leads to the reversal of this result and suggests similar or lower inflation persistence for the NMS compared to euro area countries. Structural measures show that backward-looking behavior may be a more important component in explaining inflation dynamics in the NMS than in the euro area countries.Inflation persistence, new hybrid Phillips curve, new member states, timevarying mean.
Fairness and Squareness: Fair Decision Making Rules in the EU Council?
The concept of fair representation of voters in a committee representing different voters’ groups, such as national representations in union of states, is discussed. This concept, introduced into discussion about voting rights in the Council of European Union in 2004, was narrowed to proposal of distribution of voting weights among the member states proportionally to square roots of population. Such a distribution should guarantee the same indirect voting power to each EU citizen, measured by Penrose-Banzhaf index of voting power. In this paper we attempt to clarify this concept.Council of Ministers, indirect voting power, Penrose-Banzhaf power index, Shapley-Shubik power index, square root rule, simple voting game
Learning-by-Exporting or Managerial Quality? Evidence from the Czech Republic
This paper employs fi rm-level panel data from the Czech Republic to investigate the empirical relevance of the learning-by-exporting hypothesis. To provide convincing estimates, one must be able to disentangle learning-by-exporting from changes in company management that induce the company to both start exporting and introduce productivity increasing measures. Therefore, I compare estimates, which do not control for potential management changes, to estimates based on an instrumental variables strategy. Specifically, I focus on fi rms that start exporting due to changes in the industry-specific exchange rate and industry-specific ratio of producer prices on domestic and foreign markets. The results suggest that different kinds of productivity enhancements can be attributed to learning-by-exporting on one side and managerial effects on the other side.Exporting; productivity; matching on propensity score; Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE)
Learning-by-Exporting or Managerial Quality? Evidence from the Czech Republic
This paper employs firm-level panel data from the Czech Republic to investigate the empirical relevance of the learning-by-exporting hypothesis. To provide convincing estimates, one must be able to disentangle learning-by-exporting from changes in company management that induce the company to both start exporting and introduce productivity increasing measures. Therefore, I compare estimates based on matching on propensity score, which do not control for potential management changes, to estimates based on an instrumental variables strategy. Specifically, I focus on firms that start exporting due to changes in the industry-specific exchange rate and industry-specific ratio of producer prices on domestic and foreign markets. The results suggest that learning-by-exporting in the Czech Republic is not significant, either statistically or economically, irrespective of the method used.Exporting, productivity, matching on propensity score, local average treatment effect.
Switching to the Inflation Targeting Regime: Does it necessary for the case of Egypt?
The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of whether the switching to the Inflation Targeting (IT) regime is necessary for the Egyptian case or not? Our judgment of applying IT regime in the Egyptian economy is established on doubled criterion. That is, the practical experience of the inflation targeters, and the efficiency of Monetary Targeting Regime (MTR) in the case of Egypt. Defining the efficiency of a monetary policy regime by the efficiency of the embedded nominal anchor to send the right message to all practitioners about the potential behavior of the price level, I assessed the efficiency of MTR in Egypt by measuring; whether there is a relationship between money and prices, the stability of the velocity of circulation, and the stability of the demand for money function. The study concluded that MTR is not efficient to tie down individuals expectations about the future path of inflation in Egypt. Taking into account that IT regime is a way to reform monetary policy and it does not worsen economic performance it becomes necessary for Egypt to switch to the IT regime once the prerequisites for IT regime have been met.inflation targeting; demand for money function; monetary policy in Egypt.
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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