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on Central Banking |
| By: | Carmen M. Reinhart; Kenneth S. Rogoff |
| Abstract: | There is a rich scholarly literature on sovereign default on external debt. Comparatively little is known about sovereign defaults on domestic debt. Even today, cross-country data on domestic public debt remains curiously exotic, particularly prior to the 1980s. We have filled this gap in the literature by compiling a database on central government public debt (external and domestic). The data span 1914 to 2007 for most countries, reaching back into the nineteenth century for many. Our findings on debt sustainability, sovereign defaults, the temptation to inflate, and the hierarchy of creditors only scratch the surface of what the domestic public debt data can reveal. First, domestic debt is big -- for the 64 countries for which we have long time series, domestic debt accounts for almost two-thirds of total public debt. For most of the sample, this debt carries a market interest rate (except for the financial repression era between WWII and financial liberalization). Second, the data go a long ways toward explaining the puzzle of why countries so often default on their external debts at seemingly low debt thresholds. Third, domestic debt has largely been ignored in the vast empirical work on inflation. In fact, domestic debt (a significant portion of which is long term and non-indexed) is often much larger than the monetary base in the run-up to high inflation episodes. Last, the widely-held view that domestic residents are strictly junior to external creditors does not find broad support. |
| JEL: | E6 F3 N0 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13946&r=cba |
| By: | Michael B. Devereux; Alan Sutherland |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a simple approximation method for computing equilibrium portfolios in dynamic general equilibrium open economy macro models. The method is widely applicable, simple to implement, and gives analytical solutions for equilibrium portfolio positions in any combination or types of asset. It can be used in models with any number of assets, whether markets are complete or incomplete, and can be applied to stochastic dynamic general equilibrium models of any dimension, so long as the model is amenable to a solution using standard approximation methods. We first illustrate the approach using a simple two-asset endowment economy model, and then show how the results extend to the case of any number of assets and general economic structure. |
| Keywords: | Econometric models ; Equilibrium (Economics) - Mathematical models ; Macroeconomics - Econometric models ; Monetary policy |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddgw:09&r=cba |
| By: | Isabel Correia; Juan Pablo Nicolini; Pedro Teles |
| Abstract: | In this article, we analyze the implications of price-setting restrictions for the conduct of cyclical fiscal and monetary policy. We consider standard monetary economies that differ in the price-setting restrictions imposed on the firms. We show that, independently of the degree or type of price stickiness, it is possible to implement the same efficient set of allocations and that each allocation in that set is implemented with policies that are also independent of the price stickiness. In this sense, environments with different price-setting restrictions are equivalent. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmsr:403&r=cba |
| By: | Guillaume Rocheteau |
| Abstract: | I study random-matching economies where at money coexists with real assets, and no restrictions are imposed on payment arrangements. I emphasize informational asymmetries about asset fundamentals to explain the partial illiquidity of real assets and the usefulness of at money. The liquidity of the real asset, as measured by its transaction velocity, is shown to depend on the discrepancy of its dividend across states as well as policy. I analyze how monetary policy affects payment arrangements, asset prices, and welfare. |
| Keywords: | Money ; Monetary policy |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwp:0802&r=cba |
| By: | Andrew Atkeson; Ariel Burstein |
| Abstract: | International relative prices across industrialized countries show large and systematic deviations from relative purchasing power parity. We embed a model of imperfect competition and variable markups in a quantitative model of international trade. We find that when our model is parameterized to match salient features of the data on international trade and market structure in the US, it can reproduce deviations from relative purchasing power parity similar to those observed in the data because firms choose to price-to-market. We then examine how pricing-to-market depends on the presence of international trade costs and various features of market structure. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmsr:404&r=cba |
| By: | Chernov, Mikhail; Mueller, Philippe |
| Abstract: | We use evidence from the term structure of inflation expectations implicit in the nominal yields and survey forecasts of inflation to address the question of whether or not monetary policy is effective. We construct a model that accommodates forecasts over multiple horizons from multiple surveys and Treasury yields by allowing for differences between risk-neutral, subjective, and objective probability measures. We extract private sector expectations of inflation from this model and establish that they are driven by inflation, real activity and one latent factor, which is correlated with survey forecasts. We show that the interest rate responds to this "survey" factor. The inflation premium and out-of-sample estimates of the inflation long-run mean and persistence suggest that monetary policy became effective over time. As an implication, our model outperforms a standard macro-finance model in inflation and yield forecasting. |
| Keywords: | inflation; macro-finance term structure model; monetary policy; survey forecasts |
| JEL: | C50 E52 G12 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6809&r=cba |
| By: | Dillén, Hans (Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of Sweden) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a theoretical model of the term structure of interest rates based on the monetary policy decision-making process at modern central banks. Evaluations of explicit expressions for the spot and forward rate curve render several important results: (i) Spot and forward rates are explicit functions of the number of policy meetings during the time to maturity rather than the time to maturity itself. Consequently, the forward rate curve is step-shaped. (ii) In addition, there are calendar time effects, i.e. the position within the policy cycle is also of importance, especially for short term interest rates. (iii) The forward rate curve exhibits hump-shaped responses to economic shocks and a modified version of the Nelson-Siegel model can be obtained as a special case. |
| Keywords: | The term structure of interest rates; interest rate stepping; policy gap; calendar time effects; hump-shaped responses |
| JEL: | E43 E52 G12 |
| Date: | 2008–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0222&r=cba |
| By: | Mario J. Crucini; Mototsugu Shintani; Takayuki Tsuruga |
| Abstract: | Volatile and persistent real exchange rates are observed not only in aggregate series but also on the individual good level data. Kehoe and Midrigan (2007) recently showed that, under a standard assumption on nominal price stickiness, empirical frequencies of micro price adjustment cannot replicate the time-series properties of the law-of-one-price deviations. We extend their sticky price model by combining good specific price adjustment with information stickiness in the sense of Mankiw and Reis (2002). Under a reasonable assumption on the money growth process, we show that the model fully explains both persistence and volatility of the good-level real exchange rates. Furthermore, our framework allows for multiple cities within a country. Using a panel of U.S.-Canadian city pairs, we estimate a dynamic price adjustment process for each 165 individual goods. The empirical result suggests that the dispersion of average time of information update across goods is comparable to that of average time of priceadjustment. |
| Keywords: | Prices ; Price levels ; Foreign exchange rates |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddgw:07&r=cba |
| By: | Canova, Fabio |
| Abstract: | This chapter highlights the problems that structural methods and SVAR approaches have when estimating DSGE models and examining their ability to capture important features of the data. We show that structural methods are subject to severe identification problems due, in large part, to the nature of DSGE models. The problems can be patched up in a number of ways, but solved only if DSGEs are completely reparametrized or respecified. The potential misspecification of the structural relationships give Bayesian methods an hedge over classical ones in structural estimation. SVAR approaches may face invertibility problems but simple diagnostics can help to detect and remedy these problems. A pragmatic empirical approach ought to use the flexibility of SVARs against potential misspecification of the structural relationships but must firmly tie SVARs to the class of DSGE models which could have have generated the data. |
| Keywords: | DSGE models; Identification; Invertibility; SVAR models |
| JEL: | C10 C52 E32 E50 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6791&r=cba |
| By: | Gilbert Koenig; Irem Zeyneloglu |
| Abstract: | The paper analyzes monetary and fiscal policy efficiency and coordination in a stochastic new open economy macroeconomics (NOEM) model with three production sectors. Some or all of these sectors can be affected by unanticipated productivity shocks which can trigger monetary and fiscal policy reactions. The uncertainty over the shocks can be symmetric or asymmetric across the two countries. The paper first aims to assess the capacity of fiscal and monetary policy to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of unanticipated productivity shocks. Second, it evaluates the possible gains from international monetary cooperation as well as the impact of active fiscal policy on monetary policy efficiency. The results show that monetary and fiscal policies are efficient tools of stabilization and under several conditions they can replicate the flexible-price equilibrium. However, their efficiency is not necessarily increased when both monetary and fiscal policies react to shocks at the national level. The existence of bilateral gains from monetary cooperation depends on the degree of asymmetry concerning the uncertainty over the shocks. In case of high asymmetry, monetary cooperation can be counter-productive either for the home or for the foreign country. |
| Keywords: | Stabilization, international policy cooperation, monetary policy, fiscal policy. |
| JEL: | E63 F41 F42 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2008-05&r=cba |
| By: | Michael B. Devereux; Shouyong Shi |
| Abstract: | While in principle, international payments could be carried out using any currency or set of currencies, in practice, the US dollar is predominant in international trade and financial flows. The dollar acts as a "vehicle currency" in the sense that agents in nondollar economies will generally engage in currency trade indirectly using the US dollar rather than using direct bilateral trade among their own currencies. Indirect trade is desirable when there are transactions costs of exchange. This paper constructs a dynamic general equilibrium model of a vehicle currency. We explore the nature of the efficiency gains arising from a vehicle currency, and show how this depends on the total number of currencies in existence, the size of the vehicle currency economy, and the monetary policy followed by the vehicle currency's government. We find that there can be very large welfare gains to a vehicle currency in a system of many independent currencies. But these gains are asymmetry weighted towards the residentsof the vehicle currency country. The survival of a vehicle currency places natural limits on the monetary policy of the vehicle country. |
| Keywords: | International trade ; Dollar, American ; Equilibrium (Economics) - Mathematical models ; Monetary policy |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddgw:10&r=cba |
| By: | Assenmacher-Wesche, Katrin; Gerlach, Stefan |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the responses of residential property and equity prices, inflation and economic activity to monetary policy shocks in 17 countries, using data spanning 1986-2006. We estimate VARs for individual economies and panel VARs in which we distinguish between groups of countries on the basis of the characteristics of their financial systems. The results suggest that using monetary policy to offset asset price movements in order to guard against financial instability may have large effects on economic activity. Furthermore, while financial structure influences the impact of policy on asset prices, its importance appears limited. |
| Keywords: | asset prices; monetary policy; panel VAR |
| JEL: | C23 E52 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6773&r=cba |
| By: | Dressler, Scott |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates economies of scale (ES) in financial intermediation as a source of equilibrium indeterminacy. Consumption in the model can be purchased with currency and deposits, and ES in intermediation implies that deposit costs are decreasing in aggregate deposits. The results suggest that indeterminacy does not depend on a large degree of ES nor a large intermediation sector, but on monetary policy and the determination of nominal interest rates. Monetary policies not targeting nominal rates allow for indeterminacy to arise for any degree of ES, while policies targeting nominal rates eliminates indeterminacy for all degrees of ES. |
| Keywords: | Financial Intermediation; Economies of Scale; Equilibrium Indeterminacy; Monetary Policy |
| JEL: | E52 E44 C62 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:8370&r=cba |
| By: | Hoffmann, Mathias; Tillmann, Peter |
| Abstract: | How does international financial integration affect national price levels? To analyze this question, this paper formulates a two-country open economy sticky-price model under either segmented or complete asset markets. It is shown that the effect of financial integration, i.e. moving from segmented to complete asset markets, is regime-dependent. Under managed exchange rates, financial integration raises the national price level. Under floating exchange rates, however, financial integration lowers national price levels. Thus, the paper proposes a novel argument to rationalize systematic deviations from PPP. Panel evidence for 54 countries supports the main findings. A 10% larger ratio of foreign assets and liabilities to GDP, our measure of international financial integration, increases the national price level by 0.27 percentage points under fixed and intermediate exchange rate regimes and lowers the price level by 0.3 percentage points under floating exchange rates. |
| Keywords: | International financial integration, exchange rate regime, national price level, PPP, foreign asset position |
| JEL: | F21 F36 F41 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdp1:7216&r=cba |
| By: | Lanne, Markku; Saikkonen, Pentti |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with univariate noncausal autoregressive models and their potential usefulness in economic applications. We argue that noncausal autoregressive models are especially well suited for modeling expectations. Unlike conventional causal autoregressive models, they explicitly show how the considered economic variable is affected by expectations and how expectations are formed. Noncausal autoregressive models can also be used to examine the related issue of backward-looking or forward-looking dynamics of an economic variable. We show in the paper how the parameters of a noncausal autoregressive model can be estimated by the method of maximum likelihood and how related test procedures can be obtained. Because noncausal autoregressive models cannot be distinguished from conventional causal autoregressive models by second order properties or Gaussian likelihood, a detailed discussion on their specification is provided. Motivated by economic applications we explicitly use a forward-looking autoregressive polynomial in the formulation of the model. This is different from the practice used in previous statistics literature on noncausal autoregressions and, in addition to its economic motivation, it is also convenient from a statistical point of view. In particular, it facilitates obtaining likelihood based diagnostic tests for the specified orders of the backward-looking and forward-looking autoregressive polynomials. Such test procedures are not only useful in the specification of the model but also in testing economically interesting hypotheses such as whether the considered variable only exhibits forward-looking behavior. As an empirical application, we consider modeling the U.S. inflation dynamics which, according to our results, is purely forward-looking. |
| Keywords: | Noncausal autoregression; expectations; inflation persistence |
| JEL: | C52 E31 C22 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:8411&r=cba |
| By: | Mark A. Wynne |
| Abstract: | It is now generally accepted that the primary objective of central banks should be the maintenance of price stability. This paper considers the question of how central banks should define price stability. I address three specific questions. First, should central banks target broad or narrow measures of inflation? Second, should central banks target headline or core measure of inflation? And third, should central banks define price stability as prevailing at some positive measured rate of inflation? |
| Keywords: | Inflation (Finance) ; Financial stability ; Price indexes ; Monetary policy |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddgw:08&r=cba |
| By: | Berriel, Tiago; Sinigaglia, Daniel |
| Abstract: | This is the complete technical appendix to "Fiscal and Monetary Policy under Sectorial Heterogeneity". |
| JEL: | E62 E52 |
| Date: | 2008–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:8443&r=cba |
| By: | Viktor Winschel; Markus Krätzig |
| Abstract: | We present an object-oriented software framework allowing to specify, solve, and estimate nonlinear dynamic general equilibrium (DSGE) models. The imple- mented solution methods for nding the unknown policy function are the standard linearization around the deterministic steady state, and a function iterator using a multivariate global Chebyshev polynomial approximation with the Smolyak op- erator to overcome the course of dimensionality. The operator is also useful for numerical integration and we use it for the integrals arising in rational expecta- tions and in nonlinear state space lters. The estimation step is done by a parallel Metropolis-Hastings (MH) algorithm, using a linear or nonlinear lter. Implemented are the Kalman, Extended Kalman, Particle, Smolyak Kalman, Smolyak Sum, and Smolyak Kalman Particle lters. The MH sampling step can be interactively moni- tored and controlled by sequence and statistics plots. The number of parallel threads can be adjusted to benet from multiprocessor environments. JBendge is based on the framework JStatCom, which provides a standardized ap- plication interface. All tasks are supported by an elaborate multi-threaded graphical user interface (GUI) with project management and data handling facilities. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) Models, Bayesian Time Series Econometrics, Java, Software Development |
| JEL: | C11 C13 C15 C32 C52 C63 C68 C87 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2008-034&r=cba |
| By: | Romain Duval; Lukas Vogel |
| Abstract: | The strong and sustained rise in oil prices observed in recent years poses a challenge to monetary policy and its ability to simultaneously achieve low inflation and stable output. Against this background, the paper studies monetary policy in a small open economy New Keynesian DSGE model including oil as a production input and a component of final demand. It investigates the performance of alternative price level definitions, notably headline and core CPI, in standard interest rate rules with respect to output and inflation stabilisation. The analysis puts special emphasis on the impact of price and real wage rigidity and their interaction on the policy trade-off induced by the oil price shock. While the degree of price rigidity alone is found to have little impact on the shock transmission and generates only small differences between alternative monetary strategies, the simulations suggest a more important role for real wage stickiness. Real wage stickiness triggers second round effects and complicates stabilisation whatever the policy rule. A focus on core inflation tends to limit the contraction of output in this context. The results also point to some interaction between nominal price and real wage rigidities. In the presence of real wage rigidity, greater price flexibility is found to be destabilising, as it amplifies the initial inflation effect of shocks, thereby triggering a stronger monetary policy response and a larger output effect. <P>Chocs pétroliers, rigidités et conduite de la politique monétaire : quelques leçons tirées d’une perspective néo-keynésienne <BR>La hausse forte et persistante des prix pétroliers au cours des années passées constitue un défi pour la politique monétaire et sa capacité à stabiliser simultanément l’inflation et la production. Dans ce contexte, ce document étudie le comportement de la politique monétaire dans un modèle DSGE néo-keynésien d’une petite économie ouverte, incluant le pétrole à la fois comme bien de consommation final et comme facteur de production. L’analyse met l’accent sur la performance de définitions alternatives de l’indice des prix, notamment des indices de prix courant et sous-jacent, dans des règles de politique monétaire courantes, en matière de stabilisation du niveau de production et de l’inflation. En particulier, l’analyse met en évidence l’impact des rigidités de prix et de salaire réel, ainsi que de leur interaction, sur l’arbitrage engendré par le choc pétrolier. Tandis que le degré de rigidité des prix seul a peu d’effet sur la transmission des chocs et n’engendre que des écarts mineurs entre différentes stratégies de politique monétaire, les simulations suggèrent un impact plus important de la rigidité des salaires réels. La rigidité des salaires réels entraîne des effets de second tour et complique la stabilisation quelle que soit la règle de politique monétaire. Cibler l’inflation sous-jacente tend à limiter la contraction du niveau de production dans ce contexte. En outre, les résultats suggèrent une interaction entre rigidité des prix nominaux et rigidité des salaires réels. Pour un degré de rigidité donné des salaires réels, une forte flexibilité des prix apparait déstabilisatrice car elle amplifie l’effet initial du choc sur l’inflation, ce qui amplifie la réaction de politique monétaire et, ce faisant, entraîne une variation plus forte du niveau de production. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy, politique monétaire |
| JEL: | E30 F41 Q43 |
| Date: | 2008–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:603-en&r=cba |
| By: | Beatrice Pataracchia |
| Abstract: | This paper characterizes the derivation and the assessment of design limits in the case of a regime-switching economy. The object of the analysis on design limits is to derive the restrictions on how feedback rules, the Taylor-type rules typically used in monetary economics, affect the frequency fluctuations underlying the state variable of interest. We extend the analysis in a structured context of model uncertainty where the uncertainty is described by the presence of different potential models whose probability of occurrence and switching is given by a known and ergodic Markov Chain transition matrix. The presence of switching modifies the characteristics of design limits in two main aspects. First, when the optimal variance minimizing rule is chosen, frequency specific restrictions appear more or less stringent with the respect to the linear case depending on the probability of switching: the higher it is, the worst is the performance in terms of frequency-specific fluctuations. Second, contrary to the linear case, design limits are also affected by the policy rule so that their role switches from a constraint to an externality that the policymaker may want to take into account. |
| Keywords: | Design Limits, Stabilization policy, Regime switching, Model Uncertainty |
| JEL: | C52 E6 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:529&r=cba |
| By: | Vasco Cúrdia |
| Abstract: | Emerging market economies often face sudden stops in capital inflows or reduced access to the international capital market. This paper analyzes what monetary policy should accomplish in such an event. Optimal monetary policy induces higher interest rates and exchange rate depreciation. The interest rate hike discourages borrowing and consumption, mitigating the impact of the increased cost of borrowing. The exchange rate depreciation provides a boost to export revenues, reducing the need for, but not averting, a domestic recession. The paper shows that the arrival of the sudden stop further aggravates the time inconsistency problem. Optimal policy is fairly well approximated by a flexible targeting rule, which stabilizes a basket composed of domestic price inflation, exchange rate and output. We show that from a welfare perspective, the success of a fixed exchange rate regime depends on the economic environment. For the benchmark parameterization, the peg performs the worst of the simple rules considered. For alternative parameterizations that feature low nominal rigidities or high elasticity of foreign demand, the fixed exchange rate regime performs relatively better. |
| Keywords: | Monetary policy ; International finance ; Macroeconomics ; Foreign exchange rates ; Inflation targeting |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:323&r=cba |
| By: | Fabio Canova; Luca Gambetti |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of expectations in the Great Moderation episode. We derive theoretical restrictions in a New-Keynesian model and test them using measures of expectations obtained from survey data, the Greenbook and bond markets. Expectations explain the dynamics of inflation and of interest rates but their importance is roughly unchanged over time. Systems with and without expectations display similar reduced form characteristics. Including or excluding expectations hardly changes the economic explanation of the Great Moderation. Results are robust to changes in the structure of the empirical model. |
| Keywords: | Indeterminacy, Expectations, Term structure, Structural VARs, Sunspot |
| JEL: | C11 E12 E32 E62 |
| Date: | 2007–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1084&r=cba |
| By: | Argia M. Sbordone |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the potential effect of global market competition on inflation dynamics. It does so through the lens of the Calvo model of staggered price setting, which implies that inflation depends on expected future inflation and a measure of marginal costs. I modify the assumption of a constant elasticity of demand, standard in this model, to provide a channel through which an increase in the number of traded goods may affect the degree of strategic complementarity in price setting and hence alter the dynamic response of inflation to marginal costs. I first discuss the behavior of the variables that drive the impact of trade openness on this response, and then I evaluate whether an increase in the variety of traded goods of the magnitude observed in the United States in the 1990s might have a significant quantitative impact. I find that it is difficult to argue that such an increase in trade would have generated a sufficiently large increase in U.S. market competition to reduce the slope of theinflation-marginal cost relation. |
| Keywords: | Price levels ; Inflation (Finance) ; Deflation (Finance) ; Competition |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:324&r=cba |
| By: | Dean Croushore |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the existing research (as of February 2008) on real-time data analysis, divided into five areas: (1) data revisions; (2) forecasting; (3) monetary policy analysis; (4) macroeconomic research; and (5) current analysis of business and financial conditions. In each area, substantial progress has been made in recent years, with researchers gaining insight into the impact of data revisions. In addition, substantial progress has been made in developing better real-time data sets around the world. Still, additional research is needed in key areas, and research to date has uncovered even more fruitful areas worth exploring. |
| Keywords: | Macroeconomics |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:08-4&r=cba |
| By: | Jose Berrospide |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a model of the firm's choice between debt denominated in local currency and that denominated in foreign currency in a small open economy characterized by exchange rate risk and hedging possibilities. The model shows that the currency composition of debt and the level of hedging are endogenously determined as optimal firms' responses to a tradeoff between the lower cost of borrowing in foreign debt and the higher risk of such borrowing due to exchange rate uncertainty. Both the composition of debt and the level of hedging depend on common factors such as foreign exchange rate risk and the probability of financial default, interest rates, the size of firms' net worth, and the costs of managing exchange rate risk. Results of the model are broadly consistent with the lending and hedging behavior of the corporate sector in small open economies that recently experienced currency crises. In particular, unlike the predictions of previous work in the literature on currency crises, the model can explain why the collapse of the fixed exchange rate regime in Brazil, in early 1999, caused no major change in the currency composition of debt of the corporate sector. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2008-18&r=cba |
| By: | Enrique Martinez-Garcia |
| Abstract: | Greater openness has become an almost universal feature of modern, developed economies. This paper develops a workhorse international model, and explores the role of standard monetary policy rules applied to an open economy. For this purpose, I build a two-country DSGE model with monopolistic competition, sticky prices, and pricing-to-market. I also derive the steady state and a log-linear approximation of the equilibrium conditions. The paper provides a lengthy explanation of the steps required to derive this benchmark model, and a discussion of: (a) how to account for certain well-known anomalies in the international literature, and (b) how to start "thinking" about monetary policy in this environment. |
| Keywords: | Monetary policy ; Equilibrium (Economics) ; Globalization ; Macroeconomics ; International finance ; Mathematical models |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddgw:11&r=cba |
| By: | Krause, Michael; López-Salido, J David; Lubik, Thomas |
| Abstract: | The New Keynesian Phillips curve explains inflation dynamics as being driven by current and expected future real marginal costs. In competitive labour markets, the labour share can serve as a proxy for the latter. In this paper, we study the role of real marginal cost components implied by search frictions in the labour market. We construct a measure of real marginal costs by using newly available labour market data on worker finding rates. Over the business cycle, the measure is highly correlated with the labour share. Estimates of the Phillips curve using GMM reveal that the marginal cost measure remains significant, and that inflation dynamics are mainly driven by the forward-looking component. Bayesian estimation of the full New Keynesian model with search frictions helps us disentangle which shocks are driving the economy to generate the observed unit labour cost dynamics. We find that mark-up shocks are the dominant force in labour market fluctuations. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian estimation; labour market frictions; marginal costs; Phillips curve |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J64 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6810&r=cba |
| By: | Gaiotti, Eugenio |
| Abstract: | It has been recently argued that the flattening of the Phillips curve, observed in the main industrial countries over the last two decades, is due to globalisation, which exposes domestic firms to fiercer international competition and severs the link between domestic demand and pricing. A more traditional explanation, with very different policy implications, centres on an increase in the credibility of the monetary regime. Substantial identification problems plague the empirical literature on this issue. We take advantage of a unique dataset including firm-level information on the pricing, capacity utilisation, export orientation, foreign competition, import penetration and delocalisation activity of about 2,000 Italian firms in the period 1988-2005; we test whether the finding of a weaker link between capacity utilisation and prices is confirmed at company level, whether it is robust to controlling for inflation expectations and whether it is concentrated among those firms that are more exposed to globalisation. According to the evidence presented, this is not the case. The conclusion is that the observed flattening of the Phillips curve is not due to globalisation. |
| Keywords: | Phillips curve; globalisation; inflation; monetary policy |
| JEL: | E31 E58 E52 |
| Date: | 2008–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:8389&r=cba |
| By: | Iftekhar Hasan; Loretta J. Mester |
| Abstract: | Over the last decade, the legal and institutional frameworks governing central banks and financial market regulatory authorities throughout the world have undergone significant changes. This has created new interest in better understanding the roles played by organizational structures, accountability, and transparency, in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of central banks in achieving their objectives and ultimately yielding better economic outcomes. Although much has been written pointing out the potential role institutional form can play in central bank performance, little empirical work has been done to investigate the hypothesis that institution form is related to performance. This paper attempts to help fill this void. |
| Keywords: | Banks and banking, Central |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:08-5&r=cba |
| By: | Ellen R. McGrattan; Edward C. Prescott |
| Abstract: | The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates the return on investments of foreign subsidiaries of U.S. multinational companies over the period 1982–2006 averaged 9.4 percent annually after taxes; U.S. subsidiaries of foreign multinationals averaged only 3.2 percent. Two factors distort BEA returns: technology capital and plant-specific intangible capital. Technology capital is accumulated know-how from intangible investments in R&D, brands, and organizations that can be used in foreign and domestic locations. Used abroad, it generates profits for foreign subsidiaries with no foreign direct investment (FDI). Plant-specific intangible capital in foreign subsidiaries is expensed abroad, lowering current profits on FDI and increasing future profits. We develop a multicountry general equilibrium model with an essential role for FDI and apply the BEA’s methodology to construct economic statistics for the model economy. We estimate that mismeasurement of intangible investments accounts for over 60 percent of the difference in BEA returns. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmsr:406&r=cba |
| By: | Emi Nakamura |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how prices comove across products, firms and locations to gauge the relative importance of retailer versus manufacturer-level shocks in determining prices. I make use of a large panel data set on prices for a cross-section of retailers in the U.S. I analyze prices at the barcode or "Universal Product Code'' (UPC) level for individual stores. I find that only 16% of the variation in prices is common across stores selling an identical product. 65% of the price variation is common to stores within a particular retail chain (but not across retail chains), while 17% is completely idiosyncratic to the store and product. Product categories with frequent temporary "sales'' exhibit a disproportionate amount of completely idiosyncratic price variation. My results suggest that most of the observed price variation arises from retail-level rather than manufacturer-level demand and supply shocks. However, the behavior of prices is difficult to relate to observed variation in costs and demand at the retail level. This suggests that retail prices may vary largely as a consequence of dynamic pricing strategies on the part of retailers or manufacturers, rather than static demand and supply shocks. |
| JEL: | E30 F40 L16 L81 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13965&r=cba |
| By: | Kose, M. Ayhan (International Monetary Fund); Otrok, Christopher (University of Virginia); Prasad, Eswar (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the evolution of the degree of global cyclical interdependence over the period 1960-2005. We categorize the 106 countries in our sample into three groups – industrial countries, emerging markets, and other developing economies. Using a dynamic factor model, we then decompose macroeconomic fluctuations in key macroeconomic aggregates – output, consumption, and investment – into different factors. These are: (i) a global factor, which picks up fluctuations that are common across all variables and countries; (ii) three group-specific factors, which capture fluctuations that are common to all variables and all countries within each group of countries; (iii) country factors, which are common across all aggregates in a given country; and (iv) idiosyncratic factors specific to each time series. Our main result is that, during the period of globalization (1985-2005), there has been some convergence of business cycle fluctuations among the group of industrial economies and among the group of emerging market economies. Surprisingly, there has been a concomitant decline in the relative importance of the global factor. In other words, there is evidence of business cycle convergence within each of these two groups of countries but divergence (or decoupling) between them. |
| Keywords: | globalization, business cycles, macroeconomic fluctuations, convergence, decoupling |
| JEL: | C11 C32 E32 F42 F41 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3442&r=cba |
| By: | Clauio Borio |
| Abstract: | The unfolding financial turmoil in mature economies has prompted the official and private sectors to reconsider policies, business models and risk management practices. Regardless of its future evolution, it already threatens to become one of the defining economic moments of the 21st century. This essay seeks to provide a preliminary assessment of the events and to draw some lessons for policies designed to strengthen the financial system on a long-term basis. It argues that the turmoil is best seen as a natural result of a prolonged period of generalised and aggressive risk-taking, which happened to have the subprime market at its epicentre. In other words, it represents the archetypal example of financial instability with potentially serious macroeconomic consequences that follows the build-up of financial imbalances in good times. The significant idiosyncratic elements, including the threat of an unprecedented involuntary "reintermediation" wave for banks and the dislocations associated with new credit risk transfer instruments, are arguably symptoms of more fundamental common causes. The policy response, while naturally taking into account the idiosyncratic weaknesses brought to light by the turmoil, should be firmly anchored to the more enduring factors that drive financial instability. This essay highlights possible mutually reinforcing steps in three areas: accounting, disclosure and risk management; the architecture of prudential regulation; and monetary policy. |
| Keywords: | financial turmoil, risk, liquidity, prudential regulation, accounting, ratings, monetary policy |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bis:biswps:251&r=cba |
| By: | Helge Berger (Freie Universität Berlin, Economics Department, Berlin, Germany); Volker Nitsch (ETH Zurich, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | How many people should decide about monetary policy? In this paper, we take an empirical perspective on this issue, analyzing the relationship between the number of monetary policy decision-makers and monetary policy outcomes. Using a new data set that characterizes Monetary Policy Committees (MPCs) in more than 30 countries from 1960 through 2000, we find a U-shaped relation between the membership size of MPCs and inflation; our results suggest that the lowest level of inflation is reached at MPCs with about seven to ten members. Similar results are obtained for other measures, such as inflation variability and output growth. We also find that MPC size influences the success of monetary targeting regimes. In contrast, there is no evidence that either turnover rates of MPC members or the membership composition of MPCs affect economic outcomes. |
| Keywords: | central bank design, monetary policy committee, central bank board, central bank council, governance, inflation |
| JEL: | E52 E58 E61 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:08-195&r=cba |
| By: | Louis Phaneuf; Nooman Rebei |
| Abstract: | We develop and estimate a DSGE model which realistically assumes that many goods in the economy are produced through more than one stage of production. Firms produce differentiated goods at an intermediate stage and a final stage, post different prices at both stages, and face stage-specific technological change. Wage-setting households are imperfectly competitive with respect to labor skills. Intermediate-stage technology shocks explain most of short-run output fluctuations, whereas final-stage technology shocks only have a small impact. Despite the dominance of technology shocks, the model predicts a near-zero correlation between hours worked and the return to work and mildly procyclical real wages. The factors mainly responsible for these findings are an input-output linkage between firms operating at the different stages and movements in the relative price of goods. We show that, depending the source, a technology improvement may either have a contractionary or expansionary impact on employment. |
| Keywords: | Business Cycles, Production Stages, Technological Change, Nominal Rigidities |
| JEL: | E32 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0802&r=cba |
| By: | Juan Jose Dolado; Jesus Gonzalo; Laura Mayoral |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an overview of some new results regarding an easily implementable Wald test-statistic (EFDF test) of the null hypotheses that a time-series process is I(1) or I(0) against fractional I(d) alternatives, with d?(0,1), allowing for unknown deterministic components and serial correlation in the error term. Specifically, we argue that the EFDF test has better power properties under fixed alternatives than other available tests for fractional roots, as well as analyze how to implement this test when the deterministic components or the long-memory parameter are subject to structural breaks. |
| Keywords: | Fractional processes, Deterministic components, Power, Structural breaks |
| JEL: | C12 C22 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:we20080129&r=cba |
| By: | Colander, David C. |
| Abstract: | This paper asks the question: Why has the “general-to-specific” cointegrated VAR approach as developed in Europe had only limited success in the US as a tool for doing empirical macroeconomics, where what might be called a “theory comes first” approach dominates? The reason this paper highlights is the incompatibility of the European approach with the US focus on the journal publication metric for advancement. Specifically, the European “general-to specific” cointegrated VAR approach requires researcher judgment to be part of the analysis, and the US focus on a journal publication metric discourages such research methods. The US “theory comes first” approach fits much better with the journal publication metric. |
| Keywords: | Incentives, empirical work, econometrics, methodology, cointegration, VAR |
| JEL: | B4 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:7213&r=cba |
| By: | Michael Graff (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich); Kam Ki Tang (School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia); Jie Zhang (School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of demographic factors on saving, investment, and external balances. We derive a number of semi-structural equations from national accounting principle and the principle that external balances for the world as a whole must sum to zero. The resulting equations embody both closed, partially open and completely open economies as special cases, and are arguably more properly specified than those previously used in the literature. We apply these semi-structural equations to a large panel data set. While our findings by and large are in agreement with most previous studies, our semi-structural equations give much more plausible estimation results for saving and investment than conventional specification |
| Keywords: | Demography, openness, saving, investment, current account, panel data |
| JEL: | E21 F32 J10 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:08-194&r=cba |
| By: | Manoj Atolia (Department of Economics, Florida State University); Edward F. Buffie (Department of Economics, Indiana University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we develop a set of innovative forward-shooting algorithms that solve for the global nonlinear saddle path in models with 1-3 jump variables. Exploiting the fact that the algorithms are mechanical and model-free, we have placed canned, fully-automated programs in the public domain. The programs do not require any substantive human input. The user’s only responsibility is to type in the equations of the model correctly. |
| Keywords: | forward shooting, automated programs, global saddle path |
| JEL: | F41 C61 C63 |
| Date: | 2007–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsu:wpaper:wp2008_04_01&r=cba |
| By: | Doraszelski, Ulrich; Escobar, Juan |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a theory of regular Markov perfect equilibria in dynamic stochastic games. We show that almost all dynamic stochastic games have a finite number of locally isolated Markov perfect equilibria that are all regular. These equilibria are essential and strongly stable. Moreover, they all admit purification. |
| Keywords: | computation; dynamic stochastic games; essentiality; estimation; finiteness; genericity; Markov perfect equilibrium; purifiability; regularity; repeated games; strong stability |
| JEL: | C61 C62 C73 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6805&r=cba |
| By: | Edoardo Gaffeo; Domenico Delli Gatti; Saul Desiderio; Mauro Gallegati |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present the basics of a research program aimed at providing microfoundations to macroeconomic theory on the basis of computational agentbased adaptive descriptions of individual behavior. To exemplify our proposal, a simple prototype model of decentralized multi-market transactions is offered. We show that a very simple agent-based computational laboratory can challenge more structured dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models in mimicking comovements over the business cycle. |
| Keywords: | Microfoundations of macroeconomics, Agent-based economics, Adaptive behavior |
| JEL: | C63 E10 O11 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpde:0802&r=cba |
| By: | Ormerod, Paul |
| Abstract: | Bordo and Helbing (2003) examine the business cycle in Western economies over the 1881-2001 period. They examine four distinct periods in economic history and conclude that there is a secular trend towards greater synchronisation for much of the 20th century, and that it takes place across these different regimes. Most of the analytical techniques used in the business cycle convergence literature rely upon the estimation of an empirical correlation matrix of time series data of macroeconomic aggregates in the various countries. However due to the finite size of both the number of economies and the number of observations, a reliable determination of the correlation matrix may prove to be problematic. The structure of the correlation matrix may be dominated by noise rather than by true information. Random matrix theory was developed in physics to overcome this problem, and to enable true information in a matrix to be distinguished from noise. It has been successfully applied in the analysis of financial data. Using a very similar data set to Bordo and Helbing, I use random matrix theory, and the associated technique of agglomerative hierarchical clustering, to examine the evolution of convergence of the business cycle between the capitalist economies. The results confirm that there is a very clear degree of synchronisation of the business cycle across countries during the 1973-2006 period. In contrast, during the pre-First World War period it is not possible to speak of an international business cycle in any meaningful sense. The crosscountry correlations of annual real GDP growth are indistinguishable from those which could be generated by a purely random matrix. Contrary to the findings of Bordo and Helbing, it does not seem possible to speak of a ‘secular trend’ towards greater synchronisation over the 1886-2006 period as a whole. The periods 1920-1938 and 1948-1972 do show a certain degree of synchronisation – very similar in both periods in fact – but it is weak. In particular, the cycles of the major economies cannot be said to be synchronised during these periods. Such synchronisation as exists in the overall data set is due to meaningful comovements in sub-groups. So the degree of synchronisation has evolved fitfully, and it is only in the most recent period, 1973-2006, that we can speak of a strong level of synchronisation of business cycles between countries. More detailed analysis of the evolution of synchronisation of the 6 major economies since 1948 suggests it can vary considerably over relatively short periods of time. During the 1990s, for example, the degree of synchronisation of the cycle was similar to that of the 1950s, and lower than it was in the 1970s and 1980s following the oil shocks. |
| Keywords: | International business cycle, synchronisation, random matrix theory |
| JEL: | C69 E32 N10 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:7212&r=cba |
| By: | Mercereau, Benôit; Miniane, Jacques Alain |
| Abstract: | The present value model of the current account has been very popular, as it provides an optimal benchmark to which actual current account series have often been compared. We show why persistence in observed current account data makes the estimated optimal series very sensitive to small-sample estimation error, making it close to impossible to determine whether the paths of the two series truly bear any relation to each other. Moreover, the standard Wald test of the model will falsely accept or reject the model with substantial probability. Monte Carlo simulations and estimations using annual and quarterly data from five OECD countries strongly support our predictions. In particular, we conclude that two important consensus results in the literature – that the optimal series is highly correlated with the actual series, but substantially less volatile – are not statistically robust. |
| Keywords: | Current account, present value model, model evaluation |
| JEL: | C11 C52 F32 F41 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:7211&r=cba |
| By: | Joerg Bibow |
| Abstract: | This paper sets out to investigate the forces behind the so-called "global capital flows paradox" and related "dollar glut" observed in the era of advancing financial globalization. The supposed paradox is that the developing world has increasingly come to pursue policies that resulted in current account surpluses and thus net capital exports—destined primarily for the capital-rich United States. The hypothesis put forward here is that systemic deficiencies in the international monetary and financial order have been the root cause behind today’s situation. Furthermore, it is argued that the United States’ position as issuer of the world's premiere reserve currency and supremacy in global finance explain the related conundrum of a positive investment income balance despite a negative international investment position. The assessment is carried out in light of John Maynard Keynes’s views on a sound international monetary and financial order. |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_531&r=cba |
| By: | Joseph W. Gruber; Steven B. Kamin |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the popular view that differences in financial development explain the pattern of global current account imbalances. One strain of thinking explains the net flow of capital from developing to industrial economies on the basis of the industrial economies' more advanced financial systems and correspondingly more attractive assets. A related view addresses why the United States has attracted the lion's share of capital flows from developing to industrial economies; it stresses the exceptional depth, breadth, and safety of U.S. financial markets. ; In this paper we empirically test these hypotheses. Building on Chinn and Prasad (2003) and Gruber and Kamin (2007), we assess econometrically whether different measures of financial development explain the net flow of capital from developing to industrial economies, as well as the concentration of those flows toward the United States. We also assess whether differences in asset returns, an alternative measure of the attractiveness of financial assets, can explain the international pattern of capital flows. ; We find little evidence that differences in financial development help to explain the global pattern of current account imbalances. The measures of financial development generally do not explain either the net flow of capital from developing to industrial economies or, more specifically, the large U.S. current account deficits. Lower bond yields have been generally associated with lower current account balances (e.g., larger deficits) in industrial countries. However, U.S. bond yields have not been significantly lower than in other industrial economies, nor have expected equity earnings yields. This suggests, contrary to conventional wisdom, that U.S. financial assets have not been demonstrably more attractive than those of other industrial economies, and hence cannot explain the large U.S. deficit. ; Finally, we consider the alternative but related hypothesis that spending in the United States was uniquely responsive to the lower cost of credit stemming from capital inflows from developing countries, thus accounting for the outsized U.S. deficit. However, we found this hypothesis also to be weak, as household saving rates have declined throughout the industrial economies, not just in the United States. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:923&r=cba |
| By: | Kevin L. Kliesen |
| Abstract: | Recently, some analysts and economists had warned that the U.S. economy faces a much higher risk of falling into a recession should the price of oil rise to $100 per barrel or more. In February 2008, spot crude oil prices closed above $100 per barrel for the first time ever, and they have since climbed even further. Meanwhile, according to some surveys of economists, there is a high probability that a recession in the United States began in late 2007 or early 2008. Although the findings in this paper are consistent with the view that the U.S. economy has become much less sensitive to large changes in oil prices, a simple forecasting exercise reveals that a permanent increase in the price of crude oil to $150-per barrel-by the end of 2008 would have a significant negative effect on the growth rate of real GDP in the short run. However, the exercise also predicts such an increase in oil prices would have minimal effect on future inflation. |
| Keywords: | Petroleum products - Prices ; Economic conditions |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2008-009&r=cba |
| By: | Bloise, Gaetano; Reichlin, Pietro |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we consider economies with (possibly endogenous) solvency constraints under uncertainty. Constrained inefficiency corresponds to a feasible redistribution yielding a welfare improvement beginning from every contingency reached by the economy. A sort of Cass Criterion (Cass (1972)) completely characterizes constrained inefficiency. This criterion involves only observable prices and requires low interest rates in the long-run, exactly as in economies with overlapping generations. In addition, when quantitative limits to liabilities arise from participation constraints, a feasible welfare improvement, subject to participation, coincides with the introduced notion of constrained inefficiency. |
| Keywords: | Asset Prices; Cass Criterion; Constrained Inefficiency; Default; Private debt; Solvency Constraints |
| JEL: | D50 D52 D61 E44 G13 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6779&r=cba |
| By: | Matteo Barigozzi; Marco Capasso |
| Abstract: | Estimating the response of hours worked to technology shocks is often considered as a crucial step for evaluating the applicability of macroeconomic models to reality. In particular, Galí [1999] has considered the conditional correlation between employment and productivity as a key tool for building an empirical evaluation of Real Business Cycle theories and New-Keynesian models. Impulse-response functions are often identified by means of Structural Vector AutoRegressive models. However, a structural Moving Average model of the economy cannot be estimated by VAR techniques whenever the agents' information space is larger than the econometrician's one, that is when we face a problem of nonfundamentalness. We consider how factor models can be seen as an alternative to VAR for assessing the validity of an economic model without having to deal with the problem of nonfundamentalness. We apply this method to the well known business cycle model by Galí [1999], which originally was estimated using a VAR, and retrieve alternative nonfundamental representations of the relation between technology shocks and hours worked. Such representations always yield a positive correlation between productivity and hours worked when conditioning on a technology shock. This result is more robust than the results by Christiano et al. [2004], because it is independent of the transformation used for hours worked and moreover is perfectly consistent with the unconditional correlation observed between the common components of the variables considered. |
| Keywords: | technology, hours worked, factor models |
| JEL: | C52 E24 E60 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2008/09&r=cba |
| By: | Emine Boz; Christian Daude; Ceyhun Bora Durdu |
| Abstract: | The data reveal that emerging markets do not differ from developed countries with regards to the variance of permanent TFP shocks relative to transitory. They do differ, however, in the degree of uncertainty agents face when formulating expectations. Based on these observations, we build an equilibrium business cycle model in which the agents cannot perfectly distinguish between the permanent and transitory components of TFP shocks. When formulating expectations, they assign some probability to TFP shocks being permanent even when they are purely transitory. This is sufficient for the model to produce "permanent-like" effects in response to transitory shocks. The imperfect information model calibrated to Mexico predicts a higher variability of consumption relative to output and a strongly negative correlation between the trade balance and output, without the predominance of trend shocks. The same model assuming perfect information and calibrated to Canada accounts for developed country business cycle regularities. The estimated relative variance of trend shocks in these two models is similar. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:927&r=cba |
| By: | Meenagh, David (Cardiff Business School); Minford, Patrick (Cardiff Business School); Nowell, Eric; Sofat, Prakriti (Cardiff Business School); Srinivasan, Naveen |
| Abstract: | It has been widely argued that inflation persistence since WWII has been widespread and durable and that it can only be accounted for by models with a high degree of nominal rigidity. We examine UK post-war data where after confirming previous studies, findings of varying persistence due to changing monetary regimes, we find that models with little nominal rigidity are best equipped to explain it. |
| Keywords: | inflation persistence; New Keynesian; New Classical; nominal rigidity; monetary regime shifts |
| JEL: | E31 E37 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2008/7&r=cba |
| By: | Stephen G Hall; George Hondroyiannis; P.A.V.B. Swamy; George S. Tavlas |
| Abstract: | As part of its monetary policy strategy, the European Central Bank has formulated a reference value for M3 growth. A pre-requisite for the use of a reference value for M3 growth is the existence of a stable demand function for that aggregate. However, a large empirical literature has emerged showing that, beginning in 2001, essentially all euro area M3 demand functions have exhibited instability. This paper argues that a proper understanding of the determination of money requires a portfolio analysis where the demand for broad money is seen as just one element in the wealth portfolio. Under this framework, wealth is the variable that constitutes the total budget constraint on the holdings of assets, including money, and changes in equity prices are a key transmission channel of monetary policy. Understanding money behaviour thus requires good data on euro area wealth which at present do not exist. Our basic premise is that there is a stable demand-for-money function but that the models that have been used until now to estimate euro area money-demand are not well-specified because they do not include a measure of wealth. Using two empirical methodologies - - a co-integrated vector equilibrium correction (VEC) approach and a time-varying coefficient (TVC) approach - - we find that a demand-for-money function that includes wealth is stable. The upshot of our findings is that M3 behaviour continues to provide useful information about medium-term developments on inflation. |
| Keywords: | Money demand; VEC, time varying coefficient estimation; Euro area |
| JEL: | C20 E41 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lec:leecon:08/9&r=cba |
| By: | De Graeve, Ferre; Kick, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Evidence on the interdependency between monetary policy and the state of the banking system is scarce. We suggest an integrated micro-macro approach with two core virtues. First, we measure the probability of bank distress directly at the bank level. Second, we integrate a microeconomic hazard model for bank distress and a standard macroeconomic model. The advantage of this approach is to incorporate micro information, to allow for non-linearities and to permit general feedback effects between bank distress and the real economy. We base the analysis on German bank and macro data between 1995 and 2004. Our results confirm the existence of a relationship between monetary policy and bank distress. A monetary contraction increases the mean probability of distress. This effect disappears when neglecting micro effects, underlining the crucial importance of the former. Distress responses are economically most significant for weak distress events and at times when capitalization is low. |
| Keywords: | Stress testing, bank distress, monetary policy |
| JEL: | E42 E52 E58 G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdp2:7219&r=cba |
| By: | Lorenzo Pozzi (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Guido Wolswijk (European Central Bank) |
| Abstract: | We derive a model in which a standard international capital asset pricing (ICAPM) model is nested within an ICAPM model with market imperfections. In the latter model an idiosyncratic stochastic factor affects the return of risky assets (over a risk-free rate) on top of the systematic component that is common to all countries (and that is interacted with a timevarying idiosyncratic “beta”). We introduce asymptotic convergence from the full ICAPM model with imperfections to the standard model by multiplying the idiosyncratic factor by convergence operators. The model is then estimated using the weekly 10 year government bond spreads of Belgium, France, Italy, and the Netherlands versus Germany over the period 1991-2006. We find that the idiosyncratic components have converged towards zero for all countries after the introduction of the euro implying that the efficiency of the euro area government bond markets under consideration has increased. Full convergence has not yet occurred however. |
| Keywords: | Government bonds; euro area; interest rate spreads; state space methods |
| JEL: | E43 G12 |
| Date: | 2008–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080042&r=cba |
| By: | Lewis, Vivien |
| Abstract: | Business cycle models with sticky prices and endegenous firm entry make novel predictions on the transmission of shocks through the extensive margin of investment. This paper tests some of these predictions using a vector autoregression with model-based sign restrictions. We find a positive and significant response of firm entry to expansionary shocks to productivity, aggregate spending, monetary policy and entry costs. The estimated response to a monetary expansion does not support the monetary policy transmission mechanism proposed by the model. Insofar as firm startups require labour services, wage stickiness is needed to make the signs of the model responses consistent with the estimated ones. The shapes of the empirical responses suggest that congestion effects in entry make it harder for new firms to survive when the number of startups rises. |
| Keywords: | firm entry, business cycles, VAR |
| JEL: | E30 E32 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdp1:7217&r=cba |
| By: | Jonas Dovern (The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)); Ulrich Fritsche (Department for Economics and Politics, University of Hamburg, and DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | A couple of recent papers have shifted the focus towards disagreement of professional forecasters. When dealing with survey data that is sampled at a frequency higher than annual and that includes only fixed event forecasts, e.g. expectation of average annual growth rates measures of disagreement across forecasters naturally are distorted by a component that mainly reflects the time varying forecast horizon. We use data from the Survey of Professional Forecasters, which reports both fixed event and fixed horizon forecasts, to evaluate different methods for extracting the ``fundamental'' component of disagreement. Based on the paper's results we suggest two methods to estimate dispersion measures from panels of fixed event forecasts: a moving average transformation of the underlying forecasts and estimation with constant forecast-horizon-effects. Both models are easy to handle and deliver equally well performing results, which show a surprisingly high correlation (up to 0.94) with the true dispersion. |
| Keywords: | survey data, dispersion, disagreement, fixed event forecasts |
| JEL: | C22 C32 E37 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hep:macppr:200801&r=cba |
| By: | Axel Dreher (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich); Stefan Voigt (MACIE (Marburg Center for Institutional Economics), Marburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether nation-state governments can increase their credibility by becoming members of international organizations. Credibility is an important asset because it determines the real interest rate and is expected to have an important impact on investment and growth. It is hypothesized that the degree of delegation to international organizations can improve the credibility of nation-state governments. This hypothesis is tested by introducing three new indicators for international delegation. On the basis of panel data for up to 136 countries and the time period from 1984 to 2004, membership in international organizations is significantly and robustly linked with better credibility, here proxied for by country risk ratings. Two more results stand out: the longer a country has had a high level of membership, the higher its credibility, ceteris paribus; and: the credibility-enhancing effect is strongest in countries whose domestic institutions are weak. |
| Keywords: | Delegation of Competence, Credibility, Dilemma of the Strong State, International Organizations |
| JEL: | F02 F21 H11 K33 P26 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:08-193&r=cba |
| By: | Itai Sher (Department of Economics, University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies persuasion as a game. A speaker must decide which arguments to present and a listener which arguments to accept. Glazer and Rubinstein (2006) showed that a listener's optimal persuasion rule is credible in the sense that commitment has no value for the listener. This paper provides an algorithm for nding an optimal persuasion rule in persuasion problems without time constraints along with the speaker's strategy in the credible implementation of the rule. The credibility result, as well as the algorithm, is extended to the case where the listener's decision is not binary under a concavity assumption. Qualitative properties of optimal rules are derived. In particular, in the absence of time constraints there exists an optimal rule that treats equivalent evidence equivalently whereas this may fail with time constraints. All of the results depend on a relation between the persuasion problem |
| Keywords: | communication, optimal persuasion rules, credibility, commitment, evidence, maximum flow problem. |
| JEL: | C61 D82 D83 |
| Date: | 2008–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:min:wpaper:2008-2&r=cba |
| By: | Itai Sher |
| Date: | 2008–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levrem:122247000000002132&r=cba |
| By: | Angela Redish; Warren E. Weber |
| Abstract: | Commodity money standards in medieval and early modern Europe were characterized by recurring complaints of small change shortages and by numerous debasements of the coinage. To confront these facts, we build a random matching monetary model with two indivisible coins with different intrinsic values. The model shows that small change shortages can exist in the sense that changes in the size of the small coin affect ex ante welfare. Further, the optimal ratio of coin sizes is shown to depend upon the trading opportunities in a country and a country’s wealth. Thus, coinage debasements can be interpreted as optimal responses to changes in fundamentals. Further, the model shows that replacing full-bodied small coins with tokens is not necessarily welfare-improving. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmwp:658&r=cba |
| By: | Craig, Ben R.; Dinger, Valeriya |
| Abstract: | Despite extensive research interest in the last decade, the banking literature has not reached a consensus on the impact of bank mergers on deposit rates. In particular, results on the dynamics of deposit rates surrounding bank mergers vary substantially across studies. In this paper, we aim for a comprehensive empirical analysis of a bank merger’s impact on deposit rate dynamics. We base the analysis on a unique dataset comprising deposit rates of 624 US banks with a monthly frequency for the time period 1997-2006. These data are matched with individual bank and local market characteristics and the complete list of bank mergers in the US. The data allow us to track the dynamics of bank mergers while controlling for the rigidity of the deposit rates and for a range of merger, bank and local market features. An innovation of our work is the introduction of an econometric approach of estimating the change of the deposit rates given their rigidity. |
| Keywords: | Deposit rate dynamics, bank mergers, deposit rate rigidity |
| JEL: | G21 L11 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdp2:7218&r=cba |
| By: | Beatrice Pataracchia |
| Abstract: | In this paper we propose a method to derive the spectral representation in the case of a particular class of nonlinear models: Markov Switching ARMA models. The procedure simply relies on the application of the Riesz-Fisher Theorem which describes the spectral density as the Fourier transform of the autocovariance functions. We explicitly show the analytical structure of the spectral density in the simple Markov Switching AR(1). Finally, a monetary policy application of a Markov Switching VAR(4) is presented |
| Keywords: | Multivariate ARMA models; Regime-switching models; Markov switching models; Frequency Domain |
| JEL: | C32 C44 E52 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:528&r=cba |
| By: | Peter Spreij; Enno Veerman; Peter Vlaar |
| Abstract: | In this paper, the relevance of the Feller conditions in discrete time macro-finance term structure models is investigated. The Feller conditions are usually imposed on a continuous time multivariate square root process to ensure that the roots have nonnegative arguments. For a discrete time approximate model, the Feller conditions do not give this guarantee. Moreover, in a macro-finance context the restrictions imposed might be economically unappealing. At the same time, it has also been observed that even without the Feller conditions imposed, for a practically relevant term structure model, negative arguments rarely occur. Using models estimated on German data, we compare the yields implied by (approximate) analytic exponentially affine expressions to those obtained through Monte Carlo simulations of very high numbers of sample paths. It turns out that the differences are rarely statistically significant, whether the Feller conditions are imposed or not. Moreover, economically the differences are negligible, as they arealways below one basis point. |
| Keywords: | macro-finance models; affine term structure model; expected inflation; ex-antereal short rate; Monte Carlo simulations |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:173&r=cba |
| By: | Cespa, Giovanni; Foucault, Thierry |
| Abstract: | We consider a multi-period rational expectations model in which risk-averse investors differ in their information on past transaction prices (the ticker). Some investors (insiders) observe prices in real-time whereas other investors (outsiders) observe prices with a delay. As prices are informative about the asset payoff, insiders get a strictly larger expected utility than outsiders. Yet, information acquisition by one investor exerts a negative externality on other investors. Thus, investors’ average welfare is maximal when access to price information is rationed. We show that a market for price information can implement the fraction of insiders that maximizes investors’ average welfare. This market features a high price to curb excessive acquisition of ticker information. We also show that informational efficiency is greater when the dissemination of ticker information is broader and more timely. |
| Keywords: | Hirshleifer effect; Market data sales; Price discovery; Transparency |
| JEL: | G10 G14 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6794&r=cba |
| By: | Laurent Ferrara (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, DGEI-DAMEP - Banque de France); Thomas Raffinot (CPR-Asset Management - CPR Asset Management) |
| Abstract: | Non-parametric methods have been empirically proved to be of great interest in the statistical literature in order to forecast stationary time series, but very few applications have been proposed in the econometrics literature. In this paper, our aim is to test whether non-parametric statistical procedures based on a Kernel method can improve classical linear models in order to nowcast the Euro area manufacturing industrial production index (IPI) by using business surveys released by the European Commission. Moreover, we consider the methodology based on bootstrap replications to estimate the confidence interval of the nowcasts. |
| Keywords: | Non-parametric, Kernel, nowcasting, bootstrap, Euro area IPI. |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00275769_v1&r=cba |
| By: | Andersen, Torben M; Seneca, Martin |
| Abstract: | This paper takes a first step in analysing how a monetary union performs in the presence of labour market asymmetries. Differences in wage flexibility, market power and country sizes are allowed for in a setting with both country-specific and aggregate shocks. The implications of asymmetries for both the overall performance of the monetary union and the country-specific situation are analysed. It is shown that asymmetries are not only critical for country-specific performance but also for the overall performance of the monetary union. A striking finding is that aggregate output volatility is not strictly increasing in nominal rigidities but hump-shaped. Moreover, a disproportionate share of the consequences of wage inflexibility may fall on small countries. In the case of country-specific shocks, a country unambiguously benefits in terms of macroeconomic stability by becoming more flexible, while this is not necessarily the case for aggregate shocks. There may thus be a tension between the degree of flexibility considered optimal at the country level and at the aggregate level within the monetary union. |
| Keywords: | business cycles; monetary policy; monetary union; nominal wage rigidity; shocks; staggered contracts; wage formation |
| JEL: | E30 E52 F41 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6800&r=cba |
| By: | Garciìa Solanes, José; Torrejón Flores, Fernando |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis in two areas with strong differences in economic development, sixteen OECD countries and sixteen Latin American economies. Applying panel cointegration and bootstrapping techniques that solve for cross-sectional dependence problems in the data, we find that the second stage of the hypothesis, which relates relative sector prices with the real exchange rate, only holds in the Latin American area. The failure of the latter in the OECD countries as a whole is reflected in departures from PPP in the tradable sectors, and is probably due to segmentation between national tradable markets. |
| Keywords: | Balassa-Samuelson effect, bootstrapping techniques, cross-sectional dependence, economic development, exchange rate systems |
| JEL: | C15 E31 F31 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:7215&r=cba |
| By: | Bob Chirinko; Daniel J. Wilson |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an empirical analysis of the determination of capital tax policy by U.S. states based on new panel data, a new econometric technique, and a new theoretical model. The analysis is undertaken with a panel data set covering all 48 contiguous states for the period 1969 to 2004 and is guided by the theory of strategic tax competition. The latter suggests that capital tax policy is a function of out-of-state tax policy, in-state and out-of-state economic conditions, and, perhaps most importantly, preferences for government services. Using the Common Correlated Effects Pooled estimator to account for cross-section dependence, and time lags to account for delayed responses, we estimate this reaction function for three state capital tax instruments: the investment tax credit rate, the corporate income tax rate, and the state's capital weight in its multi-state income apportionment formula. We find the slope of the reaction function--i.e., the equilibrium response of in-state to out-of-state tax policy--is negative, contrary to many prior empirical results. We document that a positive slope is obtained when either aggregate time effects or time lags are omitted. We show that the positive slope found in misspecified models is the result of synchronous responses among states to common shocks rather than competitive responses to out-of-state tax policy. While striking given prior findings in the literature, these results are not surprising. The negative sign is fully consistent with qualitative and quantitative implications of the theoretical model developed in this paper. Rather than "racing to the bottom," our findings suggest that states are "riding on a seesaw." ; Formerly titled: Tax Competition and Capital Mobility: Evidence from the U.S. States |
| Keywords: | Taxation ; State finance |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:2008-03&r=cba |
| By: | Nielsen, Bent |
| Abstract: | Empirical analyses of Cagan’s money demand schedule for hyper-inflation have largely ignored the explosive nature of hyper-inflationary data. It is argued that this contributes to an (i) inability to model the data to the end of the hyper-inflation, and to (ii) discrepancies between “estimated” and “actual” inflation tax. A simple solution to these issues is found by replacing the conventional measure of inflation by the cost of holding money. |
| Keywords: | Cost of holding money, co-explosiveness, co-integration, explosive processes, hyper-inflation |
| JEL: | C32 E41 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:7210&r=cba |
| By: | Javier Gómez Pineda |
| Abstract: | En empirical model of the pass-through of international to domestic food inflation is proposed. The key liking variable between international and domestic food inflation of food products in the PPI for food imports and exports. Not only the inflation rates of the relevant countries but also their exchange rates can exert important influences on the prices of imported and exported food products. |
| Date: | 2008–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:004651&r=cba |
| By: | Yilmaz Akyuz (UNCTAD) |
| Abstract: | The Keynesian analysis of financial stability as developed by Hyman Minsky, provides considerable insights into understanding the nature and dynamics of boom-bust cycles driven by international capital flows in emerging markets. Its main policy conclusion that financial control rather than macroeconomic policy holds the key to financial stability is equally valid. There is however, need to develop a new approach to financial control and place greater emphasis on managing capital inflows than has hitherto been the case |
| Keywords: | Financial instability, countercyclical policy, financial regulation |
| JEL: | E32 F32 G18 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2008/4&r=cba |
| By: | Kodama, Masahiro |
| Abstract: | Using a Dynamic General Equilibrium (DGE) model, this study examines the effects of monetary policy in economies where minimum wages are bound. The findings show that the monetary-policy effect on a binding-minimum-wage economy is relatively small and quite persistent. This result suggests that these two characteristics of monetary policy in the minimum-wage model are rather different from those in the union-negotiation model which is often assumed to account for industrial economies. |
| Keywords: | Monetary policy, Sticky wage, Business cycles, Developing countries, Minimum wages |
| JEL: | E32 E52 J3 O11 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper142&r=cba |
| By: | Sargent, Thomas J; Zeira, Joseph |
| Abstract: | From 1970 to 1985, Israel experienced high inflation. It rose in three jumps to new plateaus and eventually exceeded 400% per annum. This paper claims that anticipated monetary and fiscal effects of a massive government bailout of owners of fallen bank shares caused the last big jump in inflation that occurred in October 1983. Bank shares had just collapsed after a scandal in which it was revealed that banks had long manipulated their share prices. The government promised to reimburse innocent owners for the diminished value of their bank shares, but only after four or five years. The public believed that promise and public debt therefore implicitly increased by a large amount. That implied future monetary expansions. Because that was foreseen, inflation immediately rose as predicted by the unpleasant monetarist arithmetic of Sargent and Wallace (1981). |
| Keywords: | Inflation; Inflation Tax; Public Debt; Rational Expectations |
| JEL: | E31 E50 H60 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6792&r=cba |
| By: | Mehrotra , Aaron (BOFIT); Sánchez-Fung, José R. (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper forecasts inflation in China over a 12-month horizon. The analysis runs 15 alternative models and finds that only those considering many predictors via a principal component display a better relative forecasting performance than the univariate benchmark. |
| Keywords: | inflation forecasting; data-rich environment; principal components; China |
| JEL: | C53 E31 |
| Date: | 2008–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2008_002&r=cba |
| By: | Raimundo Soto (Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.) |
| Abstract: | Edwards and Savastano (2000) survey on the equilibrium real exchange rate (RER) literature identify two important limitations: the lack of explicit derivation of flow and stock equilibrium variables as determinants of the equilibrium RER and the failure to allow for unemployment. This paper develops a general equilibrium model that includes both elements, as well as other traditional determinants of the RER such as productivity, terms of trade and government policies. The model is tested against the experience of ten Latin American economies in the 1970-2004 period. From an econometric point of view the model is consistent with the evidence, providing an estimate of the RER misalignment. When evaluating the contribution of labor market distortions to changes in the equilibrium RER, they appear to be less significant than changes in productivity or government policies. |
| Keywords: | Real exchange rate, unemployment, general equilibrium, misalignmen |
| JEL: | F31 F37 J01 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:337&r=cba |
| By: | Luiz de Mello |
| Abstract: | Compliance with the structural budget surplus rule, which has been in place since 2001, has allowed the government to maintain a counter-cyclical fiscal stance in an environment of rising copper prices, while delivering a gradual reduction in public indebtedness. Monetary policy is conducted within a framework that combines inflation targeting with exchange-rate flexibility. A Fiscal Responsibility Law was promulgated in September 2006, strengthening the macroeconomic framework further by embedding the fiscal rule in law and setting out regulations for the use of fiscal savings. Complementary pension reform is being discussed in Congress with the objective of strengthening the pension system’s solidarity pillar and encouraging retirement saving. The tax system is also being improved with a view to removing obstacles to financial deepening and to business-sector development. Government spending on social programmes is budgeted to rise considerably, in line with the authorities’ emphasis on social development. The main challenge in the macroeconomic area is to maintain the policy setting that has served Chile so well over the recent copper-price upswing, while tempering demands for hiking public social spending and maintaining a lean public sector in a low-tax, low-debt environment. This paper relates to the 2007 Economic Survey of Chile (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/chile). <P>La gestion macroéconomique du Chili durant et après la forte hausse des prix du cuivre <BR>Respectant la règle d’excédent budgétaire structurel, appliquée depuis 2001, le gouvernement a pu maintenir une orientation budgétaire anticyclique dans un contexte de hausse des prix du cuivre tout en réduisant progressivement la dette publique. La politique monétaire s’appuie sur un cadre associant le ciblage de l’inflation à un taux de change flexible. Une loi de responsabilité budgétaire, adoptée en septembre 2006, a encore renforcé le dispositif macroéconomique en conférant un caractère législatif à la règle budgétaire et en réglementant l’utilisation des économies budgétaires. Une réforme complémentaire des retraites est actuellement examinée par le Congrès, son but étant de consolider le régime fondé sur la solidarité et d’encourager l’épargne retraite. Les autorités s’efforcent également d’améliorer le système fiscal afin d’éliminer les obstacles au développement du secteur financier et du secteur des entreprises. Les dépenses publiques devraient beaucoup augmenter pour les programmes sociaux, l’accent étant mis sur le développement social. Le principal enjeu macroéconomique est de préserver le cadre d’action qui a été si bénéfique pour le Chili durant la forte hausse récente des prix du cuivre, tout en tempérant les revendications d’augmentation des dépenses publiques sociales et en conservant un secteur public dimensionné au plus juste dans un environnement de faible fiscalité et de faible endettement. Ce document se rapporte à l’Étude économique du Chili 2007 (www.oecd.org/eco/etudes/chili). |
| Keywords: | fiscal policy, politique budgétaire, monetary policy, politique monétaire, pension reform, réforme des pensions, Chile, Chili |
| JEL: | E20 E52 E62 |
| Date: | 2008–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:605-en&r=cba |
| By: | Savaþ Bilal (Aksaray University) |
| Abstract: | The money demand process in Turkey during the period 1987:1-2002:3 can be explained better in the sense of Cagan (1956) rather than in the sense of Sargent et al.(1973).Cagan assumes the exogeneity of money. Sargent et al. suggest the endogeneity of money. Implicitly, the money supply process with regard to Turkish inflation is unpredictable with respect to the past history of prices, i.e. either inflation or currency depreciation. Therefore, the Turkish monetary regime may be described as a random walk monetary standard with short-term (myopic) discretionary policies used by the authorities. Moreover, the unpredictable money growth implies that the Central Bank’s passive monetary policy implementations help maintain the persistently high inflationary process in Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Demand for Money, High Inflation, Granger Causality, Exogeneity of Money, Endogeneity of Money, Exchange Rate-Based Pricing |
| JEL: | E31 E41 E65 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2008/2&r=cba |
| By: | Berument, Hakan (Bilkent University); Dogan, Nukhet (Gazi University); Tansel, Aysit (Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how macroeconomic policy shocks in Turkey affect the total unemployment and provides evidence on the differential responses of the unemployment by sectors of economic activity. Our paper extends the previous work in two respects. First, we consider not only the response of total unemployment but also the response of unemployment by sectors of economic activity. Second, we consider not only the effect of monetary policy shocks, but also the effects of several other macroeconomic shocks. The quarterly data used which covers the period 1988:01 to 2004:04 from Turkey. A VAR model with a recursive order is employed to estimate the effects of shocks in real GDP, price, exchange rate, interbank interest rate, money supply and own sectoral unemployment on unemployment by sectors of economic activity. The results indicate that the positive income shock is followed by a decrease in unemployment in all economic activity groups during the initial periods except the unemployment in the Electricity sector and the Community Services sector. A positive money shock decreases unemployment in sectors of Mining, Manufacturing, Construction, Wholesale-Retail Trade, Transportation and, Finance-Insurance. Opposite results are obtained with the interbank interest rate shocks. Even if, they are not statistically significant, a positive interbank interest rate shock increases the unemployment in all economic activities at the initial levels but derives down the unemployment in the Agriculture and the Community Services sectors at the initial level. Moreover, a positive price shock increases unemployment in all economic sectors in the long run except the Mining and the Community Services. Thus, unemployment in different sectors of economic activity responds differently to various macroeconomic policy shocks. |
| Keywords: | macroeconomic policy shocks, unemployment by economic activity |
| JEL: | E60 E24 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3461&r=cba |
| By: | Jesús Otero; Manuel Ramírez Gómez |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a simple Ordered Probit model to analyse the monetary policy reaction function of the Colombian Central Bank. There is evidence that the reaction function is asymmetric, in the sense that the Bank increases the Bank rate when the gap between observed inflation and the inflation target (lagged once) is positive, but it does not reduce the Bank rate when the gap is negative. This behaviour suggests that the Bank is more interested in fulfilling the announced inflation target rather than in reducing inflation excessively. The forecasting performance of the model, both within and beyond the estimation period, appears to be particularly good. |
| Date: | 2008–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:004650&r=cba |
| By: | Terry McKinley (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | Sub-Saharan Africa, Inflation |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:51&r=cba |