PROGRAM

8:00 p.m. Welcome Cocktail/Dinner

A word from Organizing Committee

9:00-9:30 a.m. Opening session

A word from Scientific Committee

9:30-11:00 a.m. Session I - ASSET AND REAL ESTATE PRICES AND MONETARY POLICY

Chairperson: Mate Babić (CNB Council, Faculty of Economics - Zagreb)

Paper 1: Stephen G. Cecchetti (Brandeis University)

"The Brave New World of Central Banking: Policy Challenges Posed by Asset Price Booms Busts"

Discussant: Neven Mates (IMF)

Paper 2: Mario I. Blejer (Centre for Central Banking Studies, Bank of England)

"Asset Prices and Monetary Policy
Some Analytical Considerations and the Current Global Conditions"

Discussant: Gordi Sušić (CNB)

11:00-11:30 a.m. Coffee Break


11:30-1:00 p.m. Session II - CREDIT GROWTH

Chairperson: Giorgio P. Szegö (University of Lugano, Journal of Banking and Finance)

Paper 1: Dubravko Mihaljek (Bank for International Settlements)

"Rapid Growth of Bank Credit in Central and Eastern Europe: the Role of Housing Markets and Foreign-Owned Banks"

Discussant: Maroje Lang (CNB)

Paper 2: Evan Kraft (CNB)

"Household Lending in Croatia: a Comparative Perspective"

Discussant: Maxwell Watson (European Commission)
 

1:00-3:00 p.m. Lunch

Luncheon Speech - "PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, JOB CREATION AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION"

Speaker: Pradeep Mitra (World Bank)

3:00-4:30 p.m. Session III - FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

Chairperson: Marc Uzan (Reinventing the Bretton Woods Committee)

Paper 1: Josef C. Brada (Arizona State University), Ali M. Kutan (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and WDI), Taner M. Yigit (Bilkent University)

"The Effects of Transition and Political Instability On Foreign Direct Investment Inflows: Central Europe and the Balkans"

Discussant: Piroska M. Nagy (EBRD)

Paper 2: : Klara Sabirianova (Georgia State University), Jan Svejnar and Katherine Terrell (University of Michigan)

"Foreign Investment, Corporate Ownership, and Development: Are Firms in Emerging Markets Catching Up to the World Standard?"

Discussant: Oleh Havrylyshyn (IMF)

8:00 p.m. Dinner

9:00-10:30 a.m. Session IV - POLITICAL ECONOMY

Chairperson: Ante Čičin Šain (former CNB Governor, Honorary Consul of Ireland)

Paper 1: Allan Drazen (University of Maryland)

"Electoral Fiscal Policy in New, Old, and Fragile Democracies"

Discussant: Alan Deardorff (University of Michigan)

Paper 2: Benjamin Friedman (Harvard University)

"The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth"

Discussant: Athanasios Vamvakidis (IMF)

10:30 - 11:00 a.m. Coffee Break


11:00 - 12:30 a.m. Session V - CURRENT ACCOUNT

Chairperson: Ricardo Lago (Florida International University)

Paper 1: Menzie David Chinn (University of Wisconsin) and Hiroyuki Ito (Portland State University)

"Current Account Balances, Financial Development and Institutions: Assaying the World Savings Glut"

Discussant: Stephen G. Cecchetti (Brandeis University)

Paper 2 : Alexander Ludwig (Mannheim Research Institute For The Economics Of Ageing, MEA) and Dirk Krueger (Johann Wolfgang Goethe University)

"On the Consequences of Demographic Change for Rates of Returns to Capital, and the Distribution of Wealth and Welfare"

Discussant: Sandra Švaljek (CNB Council, Economics Institute - Zagreb)

1:00-3:00 p.m. Lunch


3:00-4:30 p.m. Session VI - BANKING

Chairperson: Cristian Popa (National Bank of Romania)

Paper 1: Claudia Buch and Sven Blank (Eberhard-Karls-Universitaet Tuebingen)

"Cross-Border Banking and Channels of Transmission: Evidence from Bilateral Data"

Discussant: Evžen Kočenda (CERGE - EI)

Paper 2: Rainer Haselmann and Paul Wachtel (New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business)

"Are the banks in the transition countries banks?"

Discussant: Randall K. Filer (CERGE - EI)

4:30-5:00 p.m. Coffee Break

5:00-6:30 p.m.  Panel Discussion - "EUROZONE AFTER FIRST EIGHT YEARS: LESSONS FOR THE NEWCOMERS"

Chairperson: Boris Vujcic (CNB)

Panelists:

Klaus Masuch (European Central Bank)
Juergen Kroeger (European Commission)
Carlo Cottarelli (International Monetary Fund)
Ian Begg (London School of Economics)

6:30-6:45 p.m. Closing session

A word from Scientific Committee

8:00 p.m. Dinner

Whole day trip