Economic and Financial Research in the Reserve Bank in 1994

This article summarises the principal results of the research papers published by the Reserve Bank in 1994. As in previous years, the Bank’s research has been directed at issues of relevance to monetary and financial policy-making. It has been made available to the public through the Bank’s annual conference volume, Research Discussion Papers, Occasional Papers and Bulletin articles. Over recent years, a major strand of research has focused on the progressive internationalisation of the Australian economy and how this process affects policy-making and the functioning of financial, labour and product markets. This was a major focus of the Bank’s annual conference held in July, and it was also evident in other papers published over the last year. Overall, the research can be grouped into the following broad topics: (i) the determinants of employment, wages and productivity; (ii) resource allocation, price formation and macroeconomic developments; (iii) financial market developments, including supervision, investment and interest rates; (iv) external debt; and (v) Reserve Bank operations in foreign exchange markets.