Search results

The paper includes characterizing Ramsey policy in a cash-in-advance monetary model, under flexible and sticky prices, and with different fiscal instruments.

The paper analytically and numerically characterizes the dynamic properties of Ramsey allocations. The author computes dynamics by solving second-order approximations to the Ramsey planner’s policy functions around a non-stochastic Ramsey steady state.

The Friedman rule is not mainly optimal in a cash-in-advance model with distorting taxes. The Ramsey-optimal policy with both taxes on income and consumption calls for a high inflation rate that is extremely volatile, despite the fact that changing prices is costly.

The optimality of zero nominal interest rate under flexible prices in monetary models is not mainly the case and quite depends on the preferences. The optimality of a zero inflation rate under sticky prices also very much depends on the assumed set of fiscal instruments.

The non-optimality of the Friedman rule under flexible prices is quite new. Moreover, studying the optimal fiscal and monetary policy in a New Keynesian model with a rich set of fiscal instruments is also quite original.

This study investigates the impact of trade integration on payment choice in international transactions using data from Turkey, an emerging economy that signed many trade agreements in the last two decades.

The authors use industry-level trade finance data from Turkey, which reports payment methods in exports at two-digit ISIC level for 180 export destinations. The authors performed linear as well as maximum likelihood techniques to test our hypothesis.

The authors show that the removal of trade barriers by bilateral free trade agreements leads to more exporter-financed transactions. This implies that lowering trade barriers contributes to reducing risk, which leads to more trade finance by exporters.

Trade finance is the lifeblood of global trade. Although the previous literature have analyzed the institutional and financial factors affecting exporters' decision to extend trade credit, the effect of economic integration has been overlooked. In this regard, this study represents the first attempt to analyze the impact of trade integration on trade finance.

The purpose of this paper is to derive the real implications of inflation targeting using optimizing models characterized by endogenous time preference.

To ensure consistent consumption and savings behavior, the rate of time preference is modeled as an increasing function of real wealth.

The results are not uniform and depend on the methods for modeling money in the general equilibrium framework; money in the utility function (MIU) and cash‐in‐advance constraints (CIA). With MIU, time preference wealth effects link the monetary and real sectors by endogenizing real interest rate. Monetary growth raises steady state capital and consumption by the Tobin effect. However, if money is introduced through CIA constraints, inflation policies are sensitive to the structure of the constraint itself. If the constraint applies to consumption and capital purchases, monetary growth lowers the steady state demand for both commodities and reverses the Tobin effect. If the constraint applies only to consumption goods, the same monetary policy is superneutral. This time preference specification has important advantages. It is consistent with the literature that integrates reinforcing wealth effects into aggregative models using ad‐hoc consumption or savings functions. Allowing the rate of time preference to depend positively on real wealth implies that optimizing behavior, not ad‐hoc specification yields wealth effects that endogenize the real interest rate and generate a Tobin effect. This time preference specification provides optimizing foundations for modeling savings as a decreasing function of real wealth, which is empirically verifiable and consistent with empirical predictions of consumption as an increasing function of real wealth.

This paper demonstrates the different effects that monetary policy maintains on steady state capital, consumption and real balance holdings in economies characterized by an endogenous rate of time preference.

The purpose of this paper is to examine various methods of payment and foreign‐exchange risk management among firms involved in either export or import trade only, or both in Brunei Darussalam. The paper also seeks to delineate the relationship(s) between various characteristics of firms such as number of years in business, size, and frequency of imports, and various methods of payment and foreign‐exchange risk management by the firms.

Judgment and snowball sampling methods are employed to collect data from the companies. The results are analyzed from a total sample of 42 responding firms. Descriptive statistics is used to present and analyze the data.

The paper highlights the various important methods currently used for both payment, and foreign‐exchange risk management in foreign trade by firms. It also mentions the methods that are used to lesser extent by importers and exporters in the country. Furthermore, various relationship(s) between either number of years in business, or size, or frequency of imports with various methods of payment, and foreign‐exchange risk management among firms are also highlighted in the paper.

The results are basically from the various trading companies involved in foreign trade in Brunei Darussalam.

This paper contributes to the existing literature of international business and finance. It fills the gap in the existing literature about current practices prevalent in the country. Furthermore, recommendations are made to enhance the methods of payment and foreign‐exchange risk management practices among firms. The findings may also be useful for financial institutions interested in providing hedging products and services to the firms.

Finnish‐Russian trade has declined to 7‐8 per cent of Finland’s exports by volume. In spite of this decline, and the most recent Russian crisis (August 1998), the Russian market still offers great potential by virtue of its sheer size, proximity and the experience Finnish business has in international operations with Russia. The case made here though is that, before Finnish firms can take advantage of these three factors it needs to adapt (customize) the payment options it offers to its Russian buyers. Thus, instead of the favored settlement being made totally by prepayment, mixing pre‐payment and payments against documents satisfies better both parties – importer and exporter – in this post‐crisis era. This conclusion is, moreover, transferable to countries other than Finland either engaged in, or pursuing, international operations with Russia.

This chapter provides a theory model of trade finance to explain the “great trade collapse.” The model shows that, first, the riskiness of international transactions rises relative to domestic transactions during economic downturns; and second, the exclusive use of a letter of credit in international transactions exacerbates a collapse in trade during a financial crisis. The basic model considers banks’ optimal screening decisions in the presence of counterparty default risks. In equilibrium, banks will maintain a higher precision screening test for domestic firms and a lower precision screening test for foreign firms, which constitutes the main mechanism of the model.

This paper reports findings from a series of laboratory asset markets. Although stakes in these markets are modest, asset prices display a substantial equity premium (risky assets are priced substantially below their expected payoffs) – indicating substantial risk aversion. Moreover, the differences between expected asset payoffs and asset prices are in the direction predicted by standard asset-pricing theory: assets with higher beta have higher returns. This work suggests ways to separate the effects of risk aversion from competing explanations in other experimental environments.