An empirical analysis of income distribution : a panel data analysis

Abstract

In the summer of 2007, the world faced the start of what was soon to become a catastrophe in the global economy. Macroeconomic uncertainty and financial instability have indeed become the most prominent diagnostics of today's economic situation, steering towards the most damaging financial turmoil following the Great Depression. In view of such serious concerns, attention towards financial stability has been significantly intensified in an effort to alleviate the soundness of the international financial system. In this process of increased concentration upon financial stability, the practice of publishing Financial Stability Reports (FSRs) has been greatly engaged in by a larger number of central banks and international financial institutions. Nevertheless, there lies the question with regards to the extent of such reports' usefulness for the purpose of attaining a more stable financial system. Hence, this study seeks to examine the potential contribution that FSRs may provide to financial stability; more precisely, the validity of the quality of such reports for the existence of financial stability. The analysis undertaken in this dissertation starts off with an overview of FSRs and hence proceeds to carry out a review of the literature that teases out the principal underlying features of financial stability. It then presents a survey upon four carefully selected EA countries so as to examine the quality of their FSRs and, subsequently, their state of financial stability. Thus, the findings are then utilised to extract two distinct classifications of such countries, subject to their (i) quality of FSRs and (ii) financial stability. Resultantly, empirical evidence of a positive link is identified between increased quality of FSRs and improved financial stability conditions.