What is the role of common shocks in driving the business cycles of small open economies? We investigate this question in a structural small open economy model featuring a realistic debt adjustment cost and common shocks. We estimate the model using data for 17 small developed and developing countries between 1900 and 2006. The estimated model attributes nearly 50% of the output ‡uctuations ove...

I investigate the determinants of business cycles synchronization, across regions and over time. I use both international and intranational data to evaluate the linkages between trade in goods, trade in ...nancial assets, specialization and business cycles synchronization in the context of a system of simultaneous equations. In all speci...cations, the results are as follows. (i) Simultaneity i...

I investigate the determinants of business cycles synchronization, across regions and over time. I use both international and intranational data to evaluate the linkages between trade in goods, trade in ...nancial assets, specialization and business cycles synchronization in the context of a system of simultaneous equations. In all speci...cations, the results are as follows. (i) Simultaneity i...

We study how limited enforcement of contracts and barriers to business start-up affect the investment in knowledge capital and the adoption of new technologies. We show that barriers to business startup (limited competition) is the most important obstacle to growth. Limited enforceability of contracts is detrimental to growth only if there are barriers to business start-up. Our results are cons...