De Facto Exchange Rate Regime Classifications: An Evaluation

There exist several statistically-based exchange rate regime classifications that disagree with one another to a disappointing degree. To what extent is this a matter of the quality of the design of these schemes, and to what extent does it reflect the need to supplement statistics with other information (as is done in the IMF’s de facto classification)? It is shown that statistical methods are good at the basics (distinguishing some type of peg from some type of float), but less helpful in other respects, such as determining whether a float is managed, particularly for countries that are not very remote from their main trading partners. Different measures of exchange rate volatility have been used but are not primarily responsible for differences between classifications. The theoretical underpinning of particular classification schemes needs to be more explicit.     

Black Residential Segregation in the Era of Urban Sprawl

This paper investigates the relationship between alternative metropolitan land use patterns, including those characterized as “sprawl,” and Black residential segregation. Previous studies have explored this question using limited attributes and empirical measures of both land use and segregation. This econometric study advances the understanding of that relationship in several ways. First, the paper defines land use as a countervailing, multi-dimensional, phenomenon. Metropolitan areas do not generally exhibit high-sprawl (or low-sprawl) characteristics across multiple measures; rather, they typically exhibit some combination, or “configuration,” of low-sprawl and high-sprawl attributes. Second, the paper examines the relationship between such configurations and several of the segregation dimensions suggested by Massey and Denton (1988). Third, the paper analyzes results using the 2010 decennial Census. This study explores the contribution and transmission of countervailing spatial land use patterns to changes in Black segregation levels, and the implications of such changes for land use policies and regulations. These complex effects bring new precision and insights to the analysis of racial inequality in an age of rapid demographic change.     

Small and Medium Enterprise Financing in Transition Economies

This paper studies the financing status of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in transition economies. Factors causing financing obstacles are indentified and further analyzed to determine their influence over financing patterns. Bank regulatory practices relevant to SMEs’ access to bank loans and their influence over loan structures are identified. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by exploring the impact of specific bank regulatory practices on credit lending to SMEs in transition economies.     

Connecting National Safety Nets: The Dialectics of the Basel II Contracting Process

Basel II consists of supervisory guidelines negotiated by representatives of central banks and national regulatory commissions that were members of the Basel committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The BCBS is itself a regulatory response to globalization, which is connecting national safety nets in market-driven ways. A country’s financial safety net is a social contract established by short-lived agents for principals in long-lived economic sectors. Restraints placed on the authority of the BCBS members to contract for their principals by domestic politics explains: why Basel II authorizes individual countries to implement the agreement in markedly different ways; why US implementation of Basel II ran into so much doubt, controversy, and delay; and how the implementation debate set small and large banks and the Federal Reserve and other federal regulators against one another.

Strong Presidential Approval or Disapproval Influencing the Expected Benefits of Voting and the Voter Participation Rate

This empirical study seeks to broaden the interpretation of the rational voter model so as to identify and better understand key determinants of the expected benefits from voting and hence key determinants of the aggregate voter participation rate in the US. Using annual data for all years in the 1960–1997 study period, this study finds that the voter participation rate has been positively impacted by strong public approval or strong public disapproval of the incumbent President, a finding unique to this literature and study period. In addition, the aggregate voter participation rate has been positively impacted by such factors as the Gulf War, which is generally regarded as having been popular among the US electorate, and a rising unemployment rate. This study also finds the voter participation rate to have been negatively impacted by the publics dissatisfaction with government, as well as by the Watergate scandal.The author is indebted to Cassandra Copeland for helpful information, comments, and guidance.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Demand for Imports in Three CARICOM Member Countries: An Application of the Bounds Test for Cointegration

This paper provides fresh estimates of income and price elasticities of import demand in Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago using a bounds test for cointegration. In addition, the paper also provides estimates of the consumption, investment, and exports elasticities of import demand. These latter elasticities were all found to be positive and statistically significant with values ranging from 0.16 to 0.55 in the long-run.