Financial and monetary policy responses to oil price shocks: evidence from oil-importing and oil-exporting countries

In this study, we investigate the financial and monetary policy responses to oil price shocks using a Structural VAR framework. We distinguish between net oil-importing and net oil-exporting countries. Since the 80s, a significant number of empirical studies have been published investigating the effect of oil prices on macroeconomic and financial variables. Most of these studies though, do not make a distinction between oil-importing and oil-exporting economies. Overall, our results indicate that the level of inflation in both net oil-exporting and net oil-importing countries is significantly affected by oil price innovations. Furthermore, we find that the response of interest rates to an oil price shock depends heavily on the monetary policy regime of each country. Finally, stock markets operating in net oil-importing countries exhibit a negative response to increased oil prices. The reverse is true for the stock market of the net oil-exporting countries. We find evidence that the magnitude of stock market responses to oil price shocks is higher for the newly established and/or less liquid stock market

Cost and profit efficiency of conventional and Islamic banks in GCC countries

Banking, Cost efficiency, Profit efficiency, Islamic banks, Stochastic frontier approach, GCC countries, C30, G21,

Peptide Kappa Opioid Receptor Ligands: Potential for Drug Development

While narcotic analgesics such as morphine, which act preferentially through mu opioid receptors, remain the gold standard in the treatment of severe pain, their use is limited by detrimental liabilities such as respiratory depression and drug dependence. Thus, there has been considerable interest in developing ligands for kappa opioid receptors (KOR) as potential analgesics and for the treatment of a variety of other disorders. These include effects mediated both by central receptors, such as antidepressant activity and a reduction in cocaine-seeking behavior, and activity resulting from the activation of peripheral receptors, such as analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. While the vast majority of opioid receptor ligands that have progressed in preclinical development have been small molecules, significant advances have been made in recent years in identifying opioid peptide analogs that exhibit promising in vivo activity. This review will focus on possible therapeutic applications of ligands for KOR and specifically on the potential development of peptide ligands for these receptors