Article history: Received 10 October 2009 Available online 26 May 2010 In this article we investigate the relation between population and real wages in the Italian economy during the period 1320–1870. The main result is that the positive check is strong and statistically significant but the other equilibrating mechanism in the Malthusian model – the preventive check – based on the positive rela...

This research compares partial equilibrium and statistical time-series approaches to hedging. The finance literature stresses the former approach, while the applied economics literature has focused on the latter. We compare the out-of-sample hedging effectiveness of the two approaches when hedging commodity price risk using futures contracts. For various methods of parameter estimation and infe...

This paper specifies two VAR models for testing efficiency and expectations in foreign exchange markets. The sufficient conditions for efficiency and rational expectations, by imposing restrictions on the VAR parameters, are derived. Based on these models, issues on testing efficiency and rationality are discussed with reference to previous empirical studies in the area.  2002 Elsevier Science...

Good marketing decisions require managers’ understanding of the response function relating performance measures to variations in the marketing mix. We use unit-root techniques to address market response in evolving markets, with a focus on their response to price promotions. We distinguish between evolution at the primary-demand vs. selective-demand level, and examine four consumer product cate...

Since financial derivatives are key instruments for risk taking as well as risk reduction, it is only straightforward to examine their role in currency crises. This paper addresses this issue by investigating the impact of currency futures trading on the underlying exchange rates. After a discussion of trading mechanisms and trader types, the linkage between futures trading activity and spot ma...

We investigate non-linearities in the stock return trading volume relationship by using daily data for 16 European countries in an asymmetric vector autoregressive model. In this framework, we test for asymmetries and analyze the dynamic relationship using a simulation based procedure for computing asymmetric impulse response functions. We find that stock returns have a significant influence on...