Understanding the relationship between interest rates and term to maturity of securities is a prerequisite for developing financial theory and evaluating whether it holds up in the real world; therefore, such an understanding lies at the heart of monetary and financial economics. Accurately fitting the term structure of interest rates is the backbone of a smoothly functioning financial market, which is why the testing of various models for estimating and predicting the term structure of interest rates is an important topic in finance that has received considerable attention for many decades. In this paper, we empirically contrast the performance of cubic splines and the Nelson-Siegel model by estimating the zero-coupon yields of Austrian government bonds. The main conclusion that can be drawn from the results of the calculations is that the Nelson-Siegel model outperforms cubic splines at the short end of the yield curve (up to 2 years), whereas for medium-term maturities (2 to 10 years) the fitting performance of both models is comparable.

V prispevku uporabimo model gravitacije za razumevanje determinant izvoznih tokov iz držav G7 v 161 partnerskih držav. V teoretičnem delu predstavimo teoretično podlago modela in ugotovimo, da je model možno povezati z različnimi teorijami mednarodne menjave. V empiričnem delu z metodo najmanjših kvadratov testiramo deset ekonometričnih modelov. Osnovni model gravitacije, ki zunanjetrgovinske tokove pojasnjuje z BDP dveh držav in zračne razdalje med njunima glavnima mestoma, razširimo z vključitvijo petih opisnih spremenljivk, spremenljivke oddaljenosti in absolutne razlike v BDP na prebivalca, s katero testiramo veljavnost Linderjeve hipoteze nasproti veljavnosti napovedi H-O modela. Rezultati modelov so skladni z obstoječimi empiričnimi študijami in teoretičnimi napovedmi.

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After the global financial crisis of 2007, macroprudential policy instruments have gained in recognition as a crucial tool for enhancing financial stability. Monetary policy, fiscal policy, and microprudential policy operate with a different toolkit and focus on achieving goals other than the stability of the financial system as a whole. In ligh of this, a fourth policy – namely macroprudential policy – is required to mitigate and prevent shocks that could destabilize the financial system as a whole and compromise financial stability. The aim of this paper is to contrast macroprudential policy with other economic policies and explain why other economic policies are unable to attain financial stability, which in turn justifies the need for a separate macroprudential policy, the ultimate goal whereof is precisely financial stability of the financial system as a whole. Our research results based on the descriptive research method indicate that, in order to prevent future financial crises, it is indispensable to combine both the microprudential and the macroprudential approach to financial stability. This is because the causes of the crises are often such that they cannot be prevented or mitigated by relying only on microprudential or only on macroprudential policy instruments.