Although the real exchange rate real interest rate (RERI) relationship is central to most open economy macroeconomic models, empirical support for the relationship is generally found to be rather weak. In this paper we re-investigate the RERI relationship using bilateral U.S. real exchange rate data spanning the period 1978 to 2007. Instead of testing one particular model, we build on Campbell ...

We show that the unimodular lattice associated to the rank 20 quaternionic matrix group SL2(F41)⊗ S̃3 ⊂ GL80(Z) is a fourth example of an 80-dimensional extremal lattice. Our method is to use the positivity of the Θ-series in conjunction with an enumeration of all the norm 10 vectors. The use of Aschbacher’s theorem on subgroups of finite classical groups (reliant on the classification of finite...

This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. This paper shows that the dominant view that the high variabi...

This study investigates an adjustment process in the bilateral trade balances of five countries within the Caribbean, with their largest trading partner, namely the United States. Unlike previous studies, this study controls for oil prices which play a vital role in the countries’ trade balances. A panel econometric technique was utilized using annual data over the period 19802012. Analysis of ...

Recent global initiatives on debt relief and development assistance call for increasing aid for trade to the poorest countries. We apply a multi-country computable general equilibrium model, to analyze if aid for trade offers the possibility that, instead of the developing and least developed countries’ being worse off—as so many were as the result of the last round of trade negotiations—they w...

We investigate the implications of the new price information in the latest International Comparison Program (ICP) survey for evaluating the year 2005 exchange rate misalignment estimates. A decomposition exercise reveals that the misalignment revisions are substantially affected by the ICP price updates. Two measurement-related and four economic factors are used to explain the differences in mi...

We study the distributional effects of globalization within a model of heterogeneous agents where both managerial talent and knowledge of the local economic environment are required in order to become a successful entrepreneur. Agents willing to set up a firm abroad incur a learning cost that depends on how different the foreign and domestic entrepreneurial environments are. In this context, we...

Many emerging economies have experienced current account reversals followed by large declines in economic activity. These sudden stops are reflected in their real interest rates, which alternate between tranquil times, when the level is relatively low and stable, and crises, during which interest rates are higher and more volatile. We embed an estimated regime switching process of interest rate...

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of bounded rationality on labour market dynamics. The model is based on a standard New Keynesian model that incorporates labour market search and matching frictions developed by Trigari (2006). During the bargaining process, wages and working hours are jointly determined by firms and workers. Expectations heterogeneity is introduced by assumin...

Rapid and efficient inactivation of a target gene in Escherichia coli chromosomes is required to investigate metabolic engineering. In the present study, a multiple gene inactivation approach was demonstrated in four strains of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), which are the predominant pathogenic bacteria causing piglet diarrhea, mediated by λ Red and Xer recombination. The chromosomal genes, lu...