Search results for "monetary"
showing 10 items of 502 documents
Sticky-price models and the natural rate hypothesis
2005
Abstract A major criticism of standard specifications of price adjustment in models for monetary policy analysis is that they violate the natural rate hypothesis by allowing output to differ from potential in steady state. In this paper we estimate a dynamic optimizing business cycle model whose price-setting behavior satisfies the natural rate hypothesis. The price-adjustment specifications we consider are the sticky-information specification of Mankiw and Reis (Sticky information versus sticky prices: a proposal to replace the new Keynesian Phillips curve. Quarterly Journal of Economics 117, 1295–1328) and the indexed contracts of Christiano et al. (Nominal rigidities and the dynamic effe…
Testing the long-run relationship between health expenditures and GDP in the presence of structural change: the case of Spain
2007
This article examines the long-run relationship between per capita US$ PPP health expenditures (HE) and per capita US$ PPP national income (GDP), using Spanish data over the period 1960 to 2001. We extend previous analyses by addressing the question of whether this relationship is stable over time, allowing for structural changes at an unknown date. Our empirical results are consistent with the existence of a long-run relationship between both variables, with two structural changes in 1971 and 1991. On the other hand, health would have been characterized as a luxury commodity, even though increasingly less over time.
Inequalities in the efficiency of the banking sectors of the European Union
2002
The aim of this study was to analyse the inequalities of cost and profit efficiency existing in the banking sectors of the European Union, and the origins of the inequalities observed. The decomposition of the Theil index shows that on the cost side the greatest differences within groups occur when the total sample is divided into institutional groups (commercial banks, saving banks, co-operative banks and other banks), the country effect and the type of productive specialization being more important in explaining the differences between groups. In profit efficiency, there are great differences between countries, but none between specialization clusters.
The effects of monetary policy on income and wealth inequality in the U.S. Exploring different channels
2020
We assess the effects of monetary policy shocks on income and wealth inequality through direct inequality measures and by analyzing several transmission channels explored in recent literature. Furthermore, we analyze two additional channels: the Housing and the Fiscal channels. The methodology adopted is a Bayesian proxy SVAR using a high-frequency identification based on the external instruments approach. Our own policy shocks are constructed for this purpose. The results show that an expansionary monetary policy shock does not have a significant effect on income inequality due to the existence of opposite channels, whereas it increases wealth inequality mainly through the portfolio channe…
Portfolio performance and the Euro: Prospects for new potential EMU members
2008
Abstract Entering the EMU removes currency risk for assets originating in the Euro area while diversification opportunities are likely reduced. Taking the perspective of an investor in one of the 12 countries that joined the EU in 2004–2007, we contrast actual optimal composition of international equity holdings against two artificial scenarios: costless hedging against exchange rate risk and presuming the local market to be part of the EMU. State specific optimal portfolios are determined from realized covariances for the period 2000–2006. Optimized risk is found smaller under currency unification and implied Sharp ratios signal significant benefits of EMU participation.
Oil prices and Spanish competitiveness
2002
Abstract This paper tries to find, using panel cointegration techniques, the factors explaining the real exchange rate of the Spanish peseta following the monetary approach to exchange rate determination developed in Meese and Rogoff (1988). In addition to the real interest rate differential, the real oil price (adjusted accounting for the relative oil dependence of the countries considered) is included as one of the main long-run determinants. The results are favorable to this simple model, stressing the role played by both, demand and supply factors, to explain the behavior of the peseta real exchange rate. However, the results are not homogeneous in the case of the real oil prices: this …
The effects of fiscal policy shocks on the business environment
2021
Fiscal policy influences economic conditions through public spending and taxes, generating positive or negative impulses, both on short and long term. The present research focuses on analysing the effects of the discretionary changes in the fiscal policy in seven post-communist countries of the European Union during the period 2000–2018. The autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) has been applied in order to obtain the convergence rates to equilibrium with a clear analysis of the periods needed to achieve the long-run fiscal sustainability. Also, the error correction vector model (VECM), which is based on the autoregressive vector (VAR) model, has been used in the second part of the an…
The impact of the Great Recession on TFP convergence among EU countries
2017
ABSTRACTThis article provides evidence on the effect of the Great Recession on productivity convergence among European Union (EU) economies. We use firm data, aggregated at the country-year level, to analyse the evolution of beta-convergence on total factor productivity (TFP) for 2003–2014. We obtain a positive impact of the recession on TFP (unconditional and conditional) beta-convergence across EU economies. These results support the existence of a catching-up process within the EU during the recent financial crisis. Other macroeconomic and institutional characteristics are important in fostering TFP growth, namely R&D intensity and quality of governance.
On the Persistent Understatement of Shareholder's Equity Around Europe
2003
We examine the existence of balance sheet conservative practices by listed companies in seven European countries, analysing the differences among them. Our results show that in every country under study there are conservative practices that lead to a persistent understatement of operating assets with respect to market value. This understatement could be mainly attributable to the usage of historic cost accounting as well as to the non-recognition of certain intangible assets. We also find that in code-law based countries balance sheet conservative practices are much more pronounced. Additionally, we analyse whether our results are influenced by a different sample composition, and if spuriou…
Trends and Breaks in Per-Capita Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 1870-2028
2004
We consider per-capita carbon dioxide emission trends in 16 early industrialized countries over the period 1870-2028. Using a multiple-break time series method we find more evidence for very early downturns in per-capita trends than for late downturns during the oil price shocks of the 1970s. Only for two countries do downturns in trends imply downward sloping stable trends. We also consider trends in emission composition and find little evidence for in-sample peaks for emissions from liquid and gaseous fuel uses. These results lead us to reject the oil price shocks as events causing permanent breaks in the structure and level of emissions, a conclusion often made in analyses using shorter …