"... In PAGE 13: ...agged dependent variable (i.e., the speed of adjustment to equilibrium); b) the equilibrium coefficients of inflation; c) the equilibrium coefficients of the output gap; d) all the above coefficients (a joint test of the equilibrium values and of the adjustment speed) 25. The results ( Table10 , upper part) suggest, first, a sharp distinction between the UK and all other countries. The homogeneity restrictions are generally and strongly rejected in the case of the Bank of England, while they are often accepted for the other central banks.... In PAGE 14: ... Finally, values below the 0-1 interval indicate that the central bank is not only indifferent to area-wide considerations, but actually cares about the discrepancy between domestic and foreign variables; for example, if q1 lt;0 (and a1 lt;0), the central bank will take advantage of any increase in inflation in the neighbor countries to reduce the own interest rate, thereby increasing the own inflation rate towards the area-wide level. The results, shown in Table10 , lower part, suggest that area-wide concerns have so far not been relevant in the conduct of monetary policy for the main European central banks. Considering the 10 combinations arising from the two coefficients (q1 and q2) and the five countries considered, in 8 cases the coefficient is closer to unity than to zero.... ..."

"... In PAGE 16: ... This adds to the significance of the current study, considering the shortage of European bank efficiency literature, and the non-existence of a study on the European transition economies. Table4 summarises the results on economies of scale. ______________________________________________________________________ Table 4 about here ______________________________________________________________________ These results suggest that, on average, banks in Central and Eastern Europe have exhibited small or negligible economies of scale and are effectively operating at or close to scale- efficient levels.... In PAGE 16: ... Table 4 summarises the results on economies of scale. ______________________________________________________________________ Table4 about here ______________________________________________________________________ These results suggest that, on average, banks in Central and Eastern Europe have exhibited small or negligible economies of scale and are effectively operating at or close to scale- efficient levels. With the exception of the Czech Republic, all the mean and median economies of scale measures are close to unity for both domestic and foreign banks, and in no case are the means significantly different from unity.... ..."

"... In PAGE 36: ...How were Baltic countries able to change pension rules and contain pension costs? The contrast between the Baltics and Central European countries (including Poland) is striking because their original starting points were either similar, or Central European countries apos; position for cost-cutting was more advantageous. First, the Baltics started the transition with a low pension-wage ratio (under 40 percent), while Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and former Czechoslovakia had pension-wage ratios between 45 and 60 percent (see Table7 ). Four years into the transition, the ratios for the Baltics have gone further down, while those in Central European countries, with the exception of the Czech republic, have stayed the same or gone up.... ..."

"... In PAGE 6: ... Bulgarian Stock Exchange, 1999 20 List of Tables Table 1. Privatization in the Banking Sector in Selected Countries in Europe (Comparison with Central and Eastern European Countries[CEEC]) 13 Table2 . Implementation of Banking Directives in CEEC (as of mid-1999) 27 Table 3.... In PAGE 16: ... While there are signs of a recovery of exports following the end of the Kosovo crisis, a sustained improvement in the trade balance will require an intensification of the restructuring of the enterprise sector and major improvements in the overall investment climate. In meeting its external financing requirements (see Table2 , Appendix I), Bulgaria is highly dependent on FDI inflows (50 percent in 1999) and loans for balance of payment support from international financial institutions (38 percent). Offsetting FDI flows, equivalent to 4.... In PAGE 36: ... Before accession, a country needs to have these directives fully in place or come to an agreement for transition periods during its accession negotiations. As Table2 below indicates, Bulgaria is among the most advanced Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) in adopting EU Banking Directives. Bulgaria has largely implemented Stage I Directives regarding capital movements and banking.... ..."

"... In PAGE 12: ... Holders of bank deposits denominated in European currencies show a strong bias towards the quot;core quot; European currencies, regardless of the residence of the holders of the deposits (Table 2).4 There appears to be almost as marked a preference in international holdings of securities ( Table3 ). Recall that French franc deposits have consistently yielded more than mark deposits for over a decade in which the franc has reverted to its central rate after every depreciation.... ..."

"... In PAGE 2: ... This is far too many, and not significantly less than the 33 members deemed excessive. For comparison, Table1 shows the size of the decision-making committees in a number of central banks. The largest committee is the US FOMC with 12 members.... ..."

"... In PAGE 7: ... You can divide it by the maximum possible degrees (in the Bank case we have 5 actors), and express the result as a proportion. The normalised measures for Out-degree and In- degree of each role in the Bank case study are shown in Table2 (see columns Nrm-Out and Nrm-In). ... ..."

"... In PAGE 10: ... More recently, however, securities issuance has become more important, and in the last recession it played a considerable role in corporate financing in countries such as the UK, contrary to theoretical expectations (Davis 1994a). There are sharp differences across EU countries in the structure of the banking sector ( Table10 ) which underlies the asset figures given in Table 9. The number of banks varies, notably between France and the UK on the one hand and Germany and Italy on the other.... In PAGE 31: ... Investment banking services such as primary issuance may on the one hand face increased demand for underwriting services owing to the development of institutional investors and on the other, effects of EMU which permit greater concentration and scope for competition from outside. Overall, there will be pressures arising from EMU and funding for bank restructuring and mergers, a movement that is already intensifying and may lead to greater convergence in the light of marked current differences in banking structure shown in Table10 . But note that public banks, which are prominent in a number of EU countries, may be under less pressure from owners than those which are private, and hence restructuring may be slowed.... ..."