What do unions do at the large scale? Macro-economic evidence from a panel of OECD countries

This paper investigates the long-run relationship between trade unionism and productivity using a panel data set comprising of 18 OECD economies. Much of the existing evidence on this issue derives from micro-economic studies, with limited attention paid to long-run dynamics and economy-wide effects. Using the mean group and pooled mean group estimation techniques on cross-country panel data, the paper offers support to the "productivity-increasing face of unionism" hypothesis, revealing a positive relationship between trade union density and per worker output.Trade unions, productivity growth, panel data econometrics

Optimal dynamic auditing based on game theory

A dynamic model based on game-theory is proposed to address the problem of fraud detection in auditing under non-linear payoff functions. Non-linearity is introduced by incorporating learning and sympathy effects in the audit process. It is proven that the audit/fraud detection game between two new engagement parties has a unique mixed strategy equilibrium, between an experienced auditor and a client has a unique pure strategy equilibrium, whereas in the long-run the game converges to a pure strategy equilibrium. In addition to this, to ensure an acceptable level of quality in the audit process, a closed form formula used to estimate the optimal auditor’s replacement time is extracted. The validity of the proposed scheme is tested on empirical data and modeling results comply with the International Standard of Auditing that requires the key audit partner to be rotated after a predefined period

Manufacturing price determination in OECD countries; markups, demand and uncertainty in a dynamic heterogeneous panel

Manufacturing price markup equations are estimated for 15 OECD countries using annual data. Firms have CES production technology. The markup depends on demand, competitors' prices and uncertainty. Cointegration is tested with the Pedroni tests and a panel version of the Johansen test, and evidence found for unique cointegrating vectors. Estimation of the long-run parameters is performed with a pooled mean group method, with short run heterogeneous dynamics. Tests for homogeneity of the long-run parameters do not reject the hypothesis. Markups are pro-cyclical and rise with both competitors' prices and uncertainty.pricing behaviour, markups, panel test for order of integration, panel cointegration, dynamic heterogeneous panels, pooled mean group estimation

A Small Macro-Econometric Model for Greece: Implications About the Sustainability of the Greek External Debt

This paper develops a small-scale macro-econometric model for Greece. The model will be used in order to examine the impact of macroeconomic policies on the real sector of the economy during the very difficult adjustment period that the Greek economy is currently facing. The model combines short-run Keynesian dynamics with a consistent neoclassical supply side. In this version potential output is given by a constant returns-to-scale Cobb-Douglas type production function. In most cases the short-run dynamics are modeled through an Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) which assumes the presence of adjustment costs in order to smooth-out the long-run equilibrium. A public sector side is also used in order to examine the impact of various shocks on public finance (specifically public debt)

Volatility Analysis of REITS: Empirical Evidence for the EU Peripheral Countries

This study investigates the real estate stock market in Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain from the introduction of the REIT legislation in each country until April 2014. We examine their descriptive statistics and we use various GARCH and asymmetric EGARCH models to their daily returns. The results suggest that the general index of each stock market has a significant impact on real estate stock returns except of the Italian BNS REIT and the Irish GREEN REIT. Except Greece, the general indices tend to report lower standard deviations than the REIT companies. The asymmetry of the volatility response to news seems to be present due to the fact that Italian IGD and BNS, Irish HIBERNIA, Spanish AXIA, MERLIN and PROMORENT along with the Greek Grivalia and TRASTOR report asymmetric transition dynamics for positive and negative shocks

FDI, Finance and Growth: Further Empirical Evidence from a Panel of 73 Countries

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the level of financial development can make a significant contribution to the Foreign Direct Investment’s (FDI) positive impact on economic growth. In other words, to examine whether the contribution of FDI on growth is relatively more important in countries with well-developed financial markets compared to those with the less-developed ones. The time period of the empirical research spans from 1988-2009, using yearly macroeconomic data for a sample of 73 developing countries. Our empirical methodology consists of panel-growth regressions. Our results suggest that the FDI make substantial contribution to growth where financial systems function effectively, such as high-income countries, while the FDI impact is found to be insignificant in cases where relatively weaker financial systems exist

The relationship between financial development and economic growth during the recent crisis: Evidence from the EU

This paper aims to examine the relationship between financial development and economic growth on the face of the recent financial crisis, using a panel dataset of 26 European Union countries over the period 1990-2016. The empirical approach uses multiplicative dummies to compare two distinct sub-periods before/after the crisis. The results show that before crisis, financial development promoted economic growth, while after the crisis it hindered economic activity. Also, the findings suggest that during the years 2008 and 2009 the capital adequacy of banks protected depositors and promoted the stability of the financial system

Terrorist incidents and tourism demand: Evidence from Greece

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of terrorism on tourism demand in Greece using monthly data from 1977 to 2012. We investigate whether this relationship is bidirectional and whether it exhibits long run persistence. Thus, we employ a large dataset of terrorist incidents and perform cointegration and long-run causality tests, correcting our data for cyclical seasonality and applying PCA to construct a terrorism proxy according to the severity of the incident. Our findings concur that terrorism has a significant negative impact on tourist arrivals to Greece and that causality is noted from terrorism to tourism only. The results suggest that authorities should establish firm measures against terrorism and that further actions should be taken to promote tourism, safety and security, as a response to terrorist incidents. Our study is, to the best our knowledge, the first to approach terrorism using a three-factor proxy with qualitative features

Oral Adjuvant Curcumin Therapy for Attaining Clinical Remission in Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Curcumin has demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties and has been investigated as an adjuvant therapy of ulcerative colitis (UC). The scope of this study was to systematically review and meta-analyze the efficacy of oral curcumin administration as an adjuvant therapy of UC. MEDLINE, Cochrane/CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO-ICT Registry, EMBASE and grey literature were searched for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The primary outcome was clinical remission (attainment) and the secondary outcome was clinical response (maintenance/failure). Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane tool. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated with a Mantel-Haenszel (M-H) random effects model and with a beta-binomial (B-B) random effects model when zero events/cells occurred. Four RCTs met the criteria, but one was removed from the analyses due to inconsistency in protocol details. With the M-H method, treatment with curcumin was significantly superior to placebo in attaining remission in the per-protocol (PP) analysis (OR = 5.83, 95%CI = 1.24–27.43), but not in the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis (OR = 4.33, 95%CI = 0.78–24.00). However, with the more accurate B-B method, both analyses were insignificant (for PP OR = 4.26, 95%CI = 0.59–31.00, for ITT OR = 3.80, 95%CI = 0.55–26.28). Based on the current available evidence, oral curcumin administration does not seem superior to placebo in attaining remission in patients with UC. Future RCTs should be planned more cautiously with sufficient size and adhere to the ITT analysis in all outcomes

Financial development, economic growth and the role of fiscal policy during normal and stress times : evidence for 26 EU countries

This article empirically explores the finance-growth relationship and the performance of the financial system measured by financial depth, accessibility, and efficiency of both financial sectors, that is, institutions and stock markets. It also examines the role of fiscal policy in conjunction with the performance of financial development during both normal and stress times. The data consists of a panel of 26 European Union countries over the period 1990–2020. The results show that during normal times, the finance-led growth relationship and the stock market are greatly important, while during stress times the relationship becomes insignificant. Interestingly, financial institutions are found to be more effective at promoting growth and there is clear evidence that a potentially dynamic positive effect of institutions to growth is absorbed by macroeconomic shocks. In addition, there is evidence for a threshold at a lower level compared to those previously identified in the literature. This latter finding can be attributed to different measures of financial institutions used and the impact of macroeconomic shocks. The inability of both financial sectors to enhance economic activity seems to exhibit persistence from the occurrence of the global financial crisis until the onset of the recent Covid-19 pandemic