An Empirical Analysis of Transparency-Related Characteristics of European and US Sovereign Bond Markets

We examine transparency-related characteristics of European and US sovereign bond markets and relate these to differences in primary issuance approaches and the design of the different trading platforms. We highlight the existence of a winner’s curse problem in the interaction between B2C and B2B segments of the market, and we provide evidence to analyze its prevalence. We examine the problems that can arise as the result of increasing the transparency of the B2B segment of the market and use the experience of the eSpeed platform in the US to obtain insights into these effects. Our analysis is directly relevant to the policy debate about whether to apply MiFID transparency requirements to the EU sovereign bond markets: our results suggest great caution in creating an extremely homogenous and transparent trading environment for sovereign bonds.

Altruism, Cooperation, and Efficiency: Agricultural Production in Polygynous Households

Altruism among family members can, in some cases, inhibit cooperation by increasing the utility that players expect to receive in a non-cooperative equilibrium. To test this, we examine agricultural productivity in polygynous households in West Africa. We find that cooperation is greater – production is more efficient – among co-wives than among husbands and wives because co-wives are less altruistic towards each other. The results are not driven by scale effects or self-selection into polygyny. Nor can they be explained by greater propensity for cooperation among women generally or by the household head acting as an enforcement mechanism for others' cooperative agreements.altruism, non-cooperative behavior, household bargaining, polygyny, Africa

Defining Benchmark Status: An Application using Euro-Area Bonds

The introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999 created the conditions for an integrated government bond market in the euro area. Using a unique data set from the electronic trading platform Euro-MTS, we consider what is the benchmark' in this market. We develop and apply two definitions of benchmark status that differ from the conventional view that the benchmark is the security with lowest yield at a given maturity. Using Granger-causality and cointegration methods, we find a complex pattern of benchmark status in euro-area government bonds.

Fixed versus Flexible: Lessons from EMS Order Flow

This paper addresses the puzzle of regime-dependent volatility in foreign exchange. We extend the literature in two ways. First, our microstructural model provides a qualitatively new explanation for the puzzle. Second, we test implications of our model using Europe's recent shift to rigidly fixed rates (EMS to EMU). In the model, shocks to order flow induce volatility under flexible rates because they have portfolio-balance effects on price, whereas under fixed rates the same shocks do not have portfolio-balance effects. These effects arise in one regime and not the other because the elasticity of speculative demand for foreign exchange is (endogenously) regime-dependent: low elasticity under flexible rates magnifies portfolio-balance effects; under credibly fixed rates, elasticity of speculative demand is infinite, eliminating portfolio-balance effects. New data on FF/DM transactions show that order flow had persistent effects on the exchange rate before EMU parities were announced. After announcement, determination of the FF/DM rate was decoupled from order flow, as predicted by the model.

Institutional development work in the World Bank : a review of 84 bank projects

Institutional weakness is a critical constraint to economic development. The goal of this paper is to review the design of recent Bank projects to assess the quality of their institutional development (ID) components and the factors that may affect that quality. A major focus is Bank staffing and organization, and the following issues are addressed: (a) the quality of institutional analysis and ID components in the design of current Bank project; (b) the ID work that is being done in Bank projects; (c) qualifications needed for effective ID work; (d) the impact the Bank's organizational structure has on ID work; and (e) suggestions that can be made to broaden and strengthen the ID work in Bank projects.Banks&Banking Reform,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Rural Portfolio Improvement

Rethinking our understanding of the pathogenesis of necrotic enteritis in chickens

For decades, low doses of antibiotics have been used widely in animal production to promote growth. However, there is a trend to reduce this use of antibiotics in feedstuffs, and legislation is now in place in Europe to prohibit their use in this way. As a consequence, economically important diseases, such as necrotic enteritis (NE) of chickens, that are caused by Clostridium perfringens have become more prevalent. Recent research is creating a paradigm shift in our understanding of the pathogenesis of NE and is now providing information that will be necessary to monitor and control the incidence of NE in poultry

Altruism, cooperation, and efficiency: Agricultural production in polygynous households

Altruism among family members can, in some cases, inhibit cooperation by increasing the utility that players expect to receive in a non-cooperative equilibrium. To test this, we examine agricultural productivity in polygynous households in West Africa. We find that cooperation is greater - production is more efficient - among co-wives than among husbands and wives because co-wives are less altruistic towards each other. The results are not driven by scale effects or self-selection into polygyny. Nor can they be explained by greater propensity for cooperation among women generally or by the household head acting as an enforcement mechanism for others' cooperative agreements