Revisiting poverty and welfare dominance

The paper reviews the theory of the measurement of poverty. The axiomatic theory is described and the axiomatic properties of poverty indexes are related to assumptions on the functional form of the poverty index function. The notion of poverty ordering is then introduced and followed by a review of the relations between the poverty orderings than can be defined from classes of poverty index functions with well-defined functional form properties and the notions of first order and second order stochastic dominance. The analysis applies the results used in the theory of economic inequality to study the relationship between welfare orderings and Lorenz dominance. The theory is used to analyze poverty patterns in Italy in 1997-2005.economic inequality, poverty, poverty ordering, stochastic dominance

PRICES, PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION AND QUALITY MEASUREMENT: A COMPARISON BETWEEN HEDONIC AND MATCHED MODEL METHODS

The paper provides an analysis of the problems of construction of quality-adjusted price indexes within the framework of the theory of product differentiation. In the general case of price-making behaviour on the part of firms, hedonic regressions are defined on the basis of reduced forms of the equation relating equilibrium prices to product characteristics. The paper considers the reduced form given by the marginal cost function and shows that the Laspeyres hedonic price index provides a lower bound to the quality-adjusted rate of price change while the Paasche hedonic price index provides an upper bound to the quality-adjusted rate of price change. The properties of hedonic price indexes are compared with those of matched model indexes. The theory is applied to the study of personal computer prices in Italy during the 1995-2000 period.discrete choice, price indexes, product quality, personal computer

Durable goods, price indexes and quality change: an application to automobile prices in Italy, 1988-1998.

The paper analyzes the problems of measurement of durable consumer prices posed by quality change. Theoretical price indexes are defined and used to analyze several empirical methods of estimation of quality adjusted price indexes. The paper shows that hedonic regressions and other quality adjustment methods commonly used by statistical agencies do not always provide reliable price estimators. The analysis suggests that the application of methods of measurement based on chain indexes may remove the measurement problems associated with quality change. The paper includes an application of the theory to the analysis of automobile prices in Italy during the period 1988-1998.durable goods, quality change, hedonic regressions, elementary index numbers

The International Equity Holdings of Euro Area Investors

We provide a systematic analysis of bilateral, source and host factors driving portfolio equity investment by euro-area countries, using newly-released data on international equity holdings at the end of 2001. We find that bilateral equity holdings are strongly linked to bilateral trade in goods and services and are also associated with proxies for informational proximity. We further document that there exists a significant “euro-area bias”, with euro-area countries investing in other euro-area countries over and above the amount predicted by underlying fundamentals.International portfolio equity investment, international trade; gravity.

Cross-Border Investment in Small International Financial Centers

We document and assess the role of small financial centers in the international financial system using a newly-assembled dataset. We present estimates of the foreign asset and liability positions for a number of the most important small financial centers, and place these into context by calculating the importance of these locations in the global aggregate of cross- border investment positions. We also report data on bilateral cross-border investment patterns, highlighting which countries engage in financial trade with small financial centers.Financial centers, international investment position, capital flows.

External Adjustment and the Global Crisis

The period preceding the global financial crisis was characterized by a substantial widening of current account imbalances across the world. Since the onset of the crisis, these imbalances have contracted to a significant extent. In this paper, we analyze the ongoing process of external adjustment in advanced economies and emerging markets. We find that countries whose precrisiscurrent account balances were in excess of what could be explained by standard economic fundamentals have experienced the largest contractions in their external balance. We subsequently examine the contributions of real exchange rates, domestic demand and domestic output to the adjustment process (allowing for differences across exchange rate regimes) and find that external adjustment in deficit countries was achieved primarily through demand compression, rather than expenditure switching. Finally, we show that other investment flows was the main adjustment category in the financial account but that ECB liquidity and official external assistance have cushioned the exit of private capital flows for some countries.global crisis, current account adjustment.