Inflation Targeting: An Indirect Approach to Assess the Direct Impact

Cataloged from PDF version of article.It is quite difficult to assess the benefits of inflation targeting (IT) since its immediate effect will be on inflation expectations, an unobserved variable. Due to lack of comprehensive data on inflation expectations, most studies so far concentrated on the impact of IT either on observable variables like output, unemployment, and inflation or compared post-IT surveys of IT countries with non-IT countries. In our study, we focus on a yet unanswered question, i.e., how the expectations change with the adoption of IT. We suggest that heterogeneous inflation expectations lead to long memory in actual inflation, and IT, if successful, should decrease this persistence by concentrating the public's expectations toward the announced target. Empirical results confirm our hypothesis with a reduction in inflation memory after the adoption of IT in almost all eight developed countries in our sample. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

European Integration, Productivity Growth and Real Convergence

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper derives a stochastic endogenous growth model to investigate the impact of European Union (EU) integration on convergence and productivity growth. The theoretical model implies both temporary and permanent positive effects of the integration process. The empirical part of the analysis uses structural break tests and data envelopment analysis to examine the accession process of five recent members to the EU15. The results show (i) endogenously identified accession dates as structural breaks, (ii) improved rates of productivity growth after accession over and above the Union benchmark level, and (iii) increased pace of overall growth due to capital accumulation as a result of institutional features of the Union such as Structural and Cohesion Funds. These findings support the theoretical model, implying that economic integration is beneficial for member countries, especially from a long-run perspective, and Cohesion and Structural funds help the new members catch up with the core-EU members' standard of living. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Real and nominal stochastic convergence: Are the new EU members ready to join the Euro zone?

Cataloged from PDF version of article.A key requirement for the new members to join the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is real and financial convergence to European Union (EU) levels. This paper expands the analysis in [Kocenda, E., Macroeconomic convergence in transition economies, Journal of Comparative Economics 29 (2001) 1-23] and [Kutan, A., Yigit, T., Nominal and real stochastic convergence of transition economies, Journal of Comparative Economics 32 (2004) 23-36] by investigating the convergence of the new EU members to these standards. Using panel unit root techniques, we find strong evidence of real stochastic convergence for all new members, which indicates that they adjust to Euro-area output shocks. However, the degree of nominal convergence is idiosyncratic. The Baltic states exhibit the strongest monetary policy and price-level convergence, suggesting that they are ready to adopt the Euro. However, Central and East European countries should address the reasons for their lack of convergence before adopting the Euro. (c) 2005 Association for Comparative Economic Studies. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Shortfalls of Panel Unit Root Testing

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper shows that (i) magnitude and variation of contemporaneous correlation are important in panel unit root tests, and (ii) demeaning across the panel usually does not eliminate these problems. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

What Fisher Knew About His Relation, We Sometimes Forget

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Expected consumption growth increases the real interest rate as one tries to smooth consumption over time. We demonstrate that placing it in the Fisher relation 1) is consistent with the Euler equation governing the purchase of nominal bonds, 2) explains observed procyclicality of the real interest rate. 3) is supported empirically, and 4) provides an alternative method for estimating the consumer's degree of relative risk aversion. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Nominal and real stochastic convergence of transition economies

Cataloged from PDF version of article.To investigate the sensitivity of real and nominal economic convergence of transition economies to model specification and restrictions, we extend the work of Kocenda [J. Compar. Econ. 29 (2001) 1] by considering a more stable, post-1993 period and by adopting a more recent panel estimation approach. This new technique involves less restrictive assumptions than previous panel unit root techniques by allowing heterogeneity in convergence rates. Our results show less nominal and real economic convergence than those of Kocenda

Pilgrims to the Eurozone: How far, how fast?

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In our analysis, we re-examine the nominal and real convergence of all recent 10 European Union (EU) members to EU standards. Testing for monetary convergence has significant implications for interim optimal exchange rate and monetary policies before a formal and permanent link to the euro, while real convergence is the ultimate objective of economic integration. Novel features of the paper include broader measures of real convergence in both euro as well as local currencies, an examination of inflation and interest rate convergence with respect to the Maastricht benchmarks, and employment of more appropriate tests of convergence allowing for structural breaks. The results indicate slow but steady per-capita real income convergence towards EU standards. On the other hand, evidence indicates significant strong inflation and interest rate convergence. Policy implications of the paper are also discussed. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

3D thumbnails for mobile media browser interface with autostereoscopic displays

In this paper, we focus on the problem of how to visualize and browse 3D videos and 3D images in a media browser application, running on a 3D-enabled mobile device with an autostereoscopic display. We propose a 3D thumbnail representation format and an algorithm for automatic 3D thumbnail generation from a 3D video + depth content. Then, we present different 3D user interface layout schemes for 3D thumbnails, and discuss these layouts with the focus on their usability and ergonomics. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg