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This issue of the Bulletin includes reports on conferences on
`Economic Policy in Political Equilibrium', `Macroeconomic Policy and
the External Constraint: the European Experience' and `Exchange Rate
Targets and Currency Bands'. It also contains reports of a workshop on
proposals for an East European Payments Union and lunchtime meetings on
Spanish macroeconomic policy and the EMS, corporate finance in the UK
and Germany, and the implications for the regions of Europe of economic
and monetary union. At a CEPR/IIES conference in Stockholm, papers presented examined theoretical issues concerning the design of political institutions and their implications for policy issues in macroeconomics and public finance. Macroeconomic Policy Coordination Papers presented at a CEPR conference with the Bank of Greece considered the significance of the external constraint for the formulation and coordination of the macroeconomic policies of the European economies. Currency Bands Papers at a CEPR/NBER conference at the University of Warwick presented theoretical analyses and empirical tests of the use of exchange rate targets and currency bands in the maintenance of exchange rate stability. Eastern Europe Academics and policy-makers from a number of governments and intergovernmental organizations participated in an informal workshop on current proposals for an East European Payments Union, hosted by the Banca d'Italia. Financial Markets Papers presented at the first summer meeting of the European Science Foundation Network in Financial Markets in Gerzensee, Switzerland, addressed issues of corporate finance and the regulation and performance of financial markets. Spanish Macroeconomic Policy At a CEPR June lunchtime meeting, José Viñals examined the reasons for Spain's entry into the ERM and the present and potential impacts of its membership. Corporate Finance Colin Mayer argued at a lunchtime meeting that `control' theories may have an important role in explaining differences in the financing of industry in Germany and the UK. European Integration At lunchtime meetings in London and Brussels, held in collaboration with the Commission of the European Communities and the Institut d'Etudes Européennes, Paul Krugman and Giovanni Ravasio considered the implications of economic and monetary union for the peripheral regions of the European Community. Discussion Papers Peter Westaway and Simon Wren-Lewis assess the UK's `Medium Term Financial Strategy' in the light of recent theoretical research on policy optimization. Anthony Venables simulates the effects of import tariffs and export subsidies under imperfect competition. Dalia Marin and Erwin Amann argue that countertrade may be best understood as an alternative `insurance contract' for CPEs/LDCs facing tight foreign exchange constraints. Paul Masson and Jacques Melitz argue that national fiscal policy autonomy within an EMU may be valuable because of national preferences and differences in the initial positions of the member countries. Stijn Claessens and Sweder van Wijnbergen present a new model of the pricing of secondary market debt and assess the impact of various debt reduction strategies on Mexico. Alberto Giovannini and James Hines Jr propose a model of residence-based corporate taxation that preserves national sovereignties while minimizing the distortions arising from international capital mobility. Francesco Giavazzi and Marco Pagano assess the effects of the contractionary fiscal policies of the 1980s on Denmark and Ireland. Willem Buiter and Kenneth Kletzer consider the design of an appropriate institutional framework for the coordination of fiscal policies within a monetary union and present theoretical analyses of the welfare economics of such coordination. Marcus Miller and Paul Weller extend theoretical models of policy commitments to currency bands to allow for imperfect price flexibility and departures from purchasing power parity. Giuseppe Bertola assesses the implications of a `firm-specific business conditions shock' for workers at the affected firm under a variety of legislative and contractual frameworks. George Alogoskoufis compares cooperative and coordinated responses to relative shocks in a monetary union where the monetary authorities are committed to price stability. George Alogoskoufis and Richard Portes consider the implications of economic and monetary union in Europe for the international monetary system as a whole and for the coordination of policies among the industrialized countries. Marcus Miller and Mark Salmon consider the implications of differences in initial inflationary positions for the welfare economics of policy coordination among open economies with floating exchange rates. Anton Muscatelli, T G Srinivasan and David Vines assess the policy implications of alternative explanations of the rapid growth of exports from the NIEs. Tim Jenkinson examines the underpricing of initial public offerings in the UK, the US and Japan. |