Remittances,Monetary Policy,and Partial Sterilization

Remittances play a large and important role in certain economies, where they became a significant share of GDP. Official government records of these flows have been systematically improved since governments realized their importance, but a significant percentage of remittances remain unrecorded. This, together with the shadow economy, may pose a problem for monetary policy. This article uses a limited participation model to examine the differential effect that higher shares of remittances can have on monetary policy and describes the impact of remittances on a small open economy under partial sterilization. It demonstrates how a typical monetary shock will lead to a more pronounced liquidity effect when remittances become a higher proportion of GDP. It also shows that a positive remittance shock improves consumption and lowers interest rates, but as it also reduces work effort it momentarily lowers output. Such dynamics are exacerbated as the degree of partial sterilization is accentuated.     

DSGE模型框架下我国货币政策规则的比较分析

货币政策规则是中央银行为了保持通货膨胀和产出稳定并使经济更快发展所使用的货币政策的指导原则。目前,通行于各个国家的货币政策规则主要有利率规则和货币供应量规则。过去一段时间以来,西方发达国家都已逐渐从货币供应量规则过渡到利率规则,而在我国不管是应用方面还是理论研究方面,对于哪一个货币政策规则更适合我国始终都还没有定论。因此,本文试图在DSGE模型的框架下,对我国的货币政策规则进行比较分析。结果得出,相比于货币供应量规则,利率规则下:(1)货币政策更有效;(2)技术冲击所引起的通货膨胀和产出波动更小;(3)技术冲击对通货膨胀和产出的影响更短暂。因此,研究得出,我国更适合使用利率的货币政策规则。     

On the hump-shaped output effect of monetary policy in an open economy

Results of empirical research have revealed a characteristic hump-shaped effect of a monetary policy shock on output: The effect of the shock builds to a peak after several months and then gradually dies out. We analyze, in the context of a ‘new open economy macroeconomics’ model, factors that imply a hump-shaped response of output to a monetary policy shock. We find that a hump-shaped effect of a monetary policy shock on output is likely to result if the model features a “catching-up with the Joneses” effect, pricing-to-market behavior of firms, and imperfect international financial market integration. We thank two anonymous referees for very helpful comments. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Transmission mechanisms of conventional and unconventional monetary policies in open economies

This paper provides an empirical examination on the transmission mechanisms of conventional and unconventional monetary policies for two non-EMU countries, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, over the period 1990–2017. We investigate the role of stock prices and consumer expectations in the transmission of monetary policy. We propose two distinct structural VAR models. The model for the case of conventional monetary policy covers the pre-2009 period, while the model for the case of unconventional monetary policy covers the post-2009 period. The official bank policy rate and central bank’s reserve assets are used as instruments for conventional and unconventional monetary policy. The analysis reveals that the inclusion of a forward-looking informational variable of near-term development in economic activity and a financial variable such as the stock prices is of key importance for the monetary policy assessment. We provide evidence for the existence of a consumer confidence channel in the transmission of conventional monetary policy. Moreover, the long-term government bond yields, the exchange rate and stock prices have an important role in the transmission of unconventional monetary policy. Our findings indicate that conventional and unconventional monetary policies have short-run expansionary effects in both countries by increasing output, consumption, investment, stock prices and wages, while reducing unemployment.

     

The Exchange Rate and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Germany

For the conduct of monetary policy under floating exchange rates it is important to understand the role of the exchange rate in the monetary transmission mechanism (MTM). The timing and the magnitude of the effects of a change in the exchange rate on output and inflation may be quite different from traditional interest rate channels, thereby affecting optimal policy. In this paper we examine the exchange rate channel in the MTM in Germany by estimating an identified VAR model. Two features of the results are highlighted. The effect of a policy shock on the exchange rate accelerates the pass-through of policy into prices and leads to a different response of the various components of GDP. We then show that these qualitative effects can be duplicated in a general equilibrium model for a semi-small open economy with sticky prices and wages that is calibrated to capture the main features of the German economy.     

The Transmission of Monetary Policy in South Africa Before and After the Global Financial Crisis

This paper examines whether the transmission mechanism of monetary policy in South Africa has changed after the global financial crisis (GFC). We use a Bayesian vector autoregressive (BVAR) model with Minnesota priors and 15 monthly variables, extending the system of Christiano, Eichenbaum, with Evans (1999). The benefit of the BVAR approach is that it can accommodate a large cross section of variables without running out of degrees of freedom. To identify the change in the transmission process, we divide the sample size into two subsamples, namely the pre‐GFC period (March 2001 to August 2008) and the post‐GFC period (September 2008 to February 2016). The results indicate that a change in the transmission of monetary policy occurred after the GFC. The magnitude of the effect of a monetary policy shock on output is considerably greater in the pre‐GFC period compared to the post‐GFC period. Moreover, the impact of a policy shock on inflation is not statistically significant in the post‐GFC period. The variance decomposition shows that the interest‐rate channel has possibly weakened in the post‐GFC period.     

Variations Across Canadian Regions in the Sensitivity to U.S. Monetary Policy

This paper contributes to the research on regional economic responses to monetary policy shocks in two ways. First, rather than just model the Canadian economy at the national level, we examine the impact of monetary policy shocks across five separate Canadian regions. The second extension of the literature is our focus upon estimating the impact from both Canadian and U.S. monetary policy shocks upon regional Canadian economic activity. The findings are broadly consistent with results from previous research modeling the national Canadian economy, but noteworthy regional differences are observed. Eastern Canadian regions, defined as Ontario (ON), Quebec (QU), and Atlantic (AT), exhibit greater sensitivity to Canadian monetary policy shocks than do Western Canadian regions. We also find that U.S. monetary policy shocks have a discernable impact on Canadian regional economic activity, but the impact varies across regions. For the three Eastern Canadian regions ON, QU, and AT, there is a significant impact upon regional economic activity from a U.S. monetary policy shock, but not for the two Western Canadian regions Prairie (PR) and West (WE). Moreover, the impact on ON, QU, and AT from a fed funds shock is quite similar to the impact from a shock to the Canadian Bank Rate.     

Deep habits and the dynamic effects of monetary policy shocks

We introduce deep habits into a sticky-price sticky-wage economy and examine the resulting models ability to account for the impact of monetary policy shocks. The deep habits mechanism gives rise to countercyclical markup movements even when prices are flexible and interacts with nominal rigidities in interesting ways. Key parameters are estimated using a limited information approach. The deep habits model can account very precisely for the persistent impact of monetary policy shocks on aggregate consumption and for both the price puzzle and inflation persistence. A key insight is that the deep habits mechanism and nominal rigidities are complementary: the deep habits model can account for the dynamic effects of monetary policy shock at low to moderate levels of nominal rigidities. The results are shown to be stable over time and not caused by monetary policy changes.     

Assessing Nonlinear Dynamics of Central Bank Reaction Function: The Case of Mozambique

This paper sheds some light on the elements governing monetary policy‐making during the period 2000Q1–2015Q1 in Mozambique. We estimate a time‐varying Taylor‐type rule for the BM, using a Markov‐switching (MS) model and a Threshold model. The general finding is that the behaviour of the BM can be characterised by two regimes. In regime 1, only changes in inflation trigger a reaction by the monetary authority. This behaviour is prominent after the establishment of the monetary policy committee in 2007 (CPMO). In regime 2, the BM reacts aggressively both to cool off the economic activity and to curb inflationary pressures. Regime 2 occurred most frequently during 2000–2006, when the fiscal policy might have played an important role in output stabilization. After the establishment of the CPMO, regime 2 occurred in the context of a steep rise in fuel and food prices in 2007–2008 and in 2010. Both the MS model and the Threshold model show similar asymmetric effects. We find evidence that inflation is viewed more seriously by the monetary authorities when it is accompanied by a high output‐gap in the previous period, which triggers a more aggressive response from the monetary authorities.     

The effectiveness of monetary policy in China: Evidence from a Qual VAR

Analyzing monetary policy in China is not straightforward because the People's Bank of China (PBoC) implements policy by using more than one instrument. In this paper we use a Qual VAR, a conventional VAR system augmented with binary policy announcements, to extract a latent indicator of tightening and easing pressure, respectively, for China. The model acknowledges that policy announcements are endogenous and summarizes policy by a single indicator. The Qual VAR allows us to study the impact of monetary policy in terms of unexpected changes in these latent variables, which we identify using sign restrictions. We show that the transmission of monetary policy impulses to the rest of the economy is similar to the transmission process in advanced economies in terms of both output growth and inflation despite a very different monetary policy framework. We find that bank loans are not sensitive to policy changes, which implies that window guidance is still a necessary policy tool. We also find that the impact of monetary policy shocks is asymmetric in terms of asset prices, that is, the asset price reactions differ in their sensitivity to tightening shocks and easing shocks, respectively. In particular, an easing of monetary conditions boosts stock prices while a tightening shock leaves stock prices unaffected. This shows that monetary policy is not a suitable tool to stabilize asset prices, which raises implications for financial stability and macroprudential policy.     

A Model for Monetary Policy Analysis for Sub-Saharan Africa

We develop a small open economy DSGE model usable for monetary policy in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper we apply the model to quarterly data from Ghana from 1981–2007. We find that permanent, but not transitory, technology shocks are the most important source of fluctuations. We find that the estimated monetary policy rule suggests that policy is aimed almost exclusively at fluctuations in output and ignores inflation, imports and exports. A negative result is that there appears to be significant issues in identifying some important parameters.     

The International Transmission of Monetary Policy in a Dollar Pricing Model

This paper analyses the international transmission of monetary policy in the case where all export prices are set in US dollars. “Dollar pricing” implies that the international effects of US monetary shocks are different from those of European shocks because of an asymmetric exchange rate pass-through to import prices. A dollar pricing model can explain the observed asymmetry in the transmission of monetary policy: US monetary policy affects US output more than European monetary policy affects European output. I also show that the current account is an important channel through which monetary policy affects welfare. The paper concludes that under dollar pricing a monetary expansion is a beggar-thy-neighbour policy.     

The macroeconomic effects of monetary policy: Evidence from Japan

This study examines the macroeconomic effects of monetary policy in Japan. We apply the new identification strategy proposed by Bu et al. (2021) to the Japanese case and estimate monetary policy shocks that bridge periods of conventional and unconventional monetary policymaking. We show the macroeconomic effects of monetary policy; a contractionary monetary policy shock significantly decreases output and inflation rates even under the effective lower bound. However, because the shorter-term and longer-term nominal interest rates are already close to zero, the magnitude of monetary policy shocks on the macroeconomic variables is modest.     

The Effects of Monetary Policy in the Euro Area

This paper presents evidence on the monetary transmission processin the euro area, based on macroeconomic data and on micro dataon banks. According to the estimations of macro vector autoregressionand macroeconometric models, a monetary policy tightening significantlyreduces output and—after a time lag—also prices.The effect on output is temporary, while that on prices is permanent.Clear patterns of significant asymmetries in the monetary policyeffects across countries do not emerge. The estimations basedon micro data on banks show that the main factor that determinesthe average bank's response to monetary policy is its degreeof liquidity: the lower its share of liquid assets in totalassets, the more strongly does a bank reduce its lending inresponse to a monetary tightening. Bank size does not emergeas an important factor for a bank's reaction to monetary policy.These results hold for virtually all member countries of theEuropean Monetary Union, despite the differences in their bankingsystems.     

Monetary and Fiscal Policy Design in the EMU: An Overview

The interaction of monetary and fiscal policies is a crucial issue in a highly integrated economic area such as the European Union. This paper analyzes the design of monetary and fiscal policies in the EMU. To do so, the paper starts with an overview of the most important aspects. Next, it analyzes monetary and fiscal policy interaction in a stylized model of a monetary union, in which monetary and fiscal policy design is modeled as a dynamic stabilization game. Macroeconomic policy making and adjustment are studied under alternative forms of cooperation and in both symmetric and asymmetric settings.     

中国经济周期波动中冲击构成的实证分析

利用SVAR模型对中国经济周期波动中冲击构成进行分析,同时运用ADF单位根检验、Granger因果关系检验、脉冲响应和方差分解等计量经济方法研究了产出、利率和财政支出与我国宏观经济波动的关系。研究结果表明：利率外生于系统,但产出和财政支出互为格兰杰因果关系;我国的货币政策在长期非中性,它可以直接影响到产出和其他实际变量;产出对源于产品市场的需求冲击和产品的供给冲击的响应均是正向的;经济周期波动中供给冲击所占比重小于需求冲击所占的比重。     

Monetary policy and inflation in South Africa: A VECM augmented with foreign variables

We develop a structural cointegrated vector autoregressive (VAR) model with weakly exogenous foreign variables, known as an augmented VECM or VECX*, suitable for a small open economy like South Africa. This model is novel for South Africa in two ways: it is the first VECX* developed to analyse monetary policy and the first model that uses time‐varying trade weights to create the foreign series. We impose three significant long‐run relations (augmented purchasing power parity, uncovered interest parity and Fisher parity) to investigate the effect of a monetary policy shock on inflation. The results suggest the effective transmission of monetary policy.     

融资成本能评价新型货币政策工具的有效性吗

提升货币政策效果是近年来我国宏观经济调控改革中的重要任务,而如何正确评价货币政策有效性则是这一任务的前提条件。基于此,结合我国经济新变化,文章在经典的CC-LM模型中纳入了新型货币政策工具,从理论上分析了新型货币政策工具对信贷利率与实际产出的传导机制,并应用具有时变参数的TVP-SV-VAR模型进一步检验了理论分析的结论。理论研究与实证检验一致得出：第一,从对实际产出的影响来看,中期借贷便利为代表的新型货币投放方式是有效的;第二,中期借贷便利仅能降低短期信贷利率,而长期将提升信贷利率;第三,中期借贷便利与LPR报价市场的市场化程度提升可强化货币政策有效性。此外,实证研究还表明,依靠中期借贷便利方式投放基础货币会造成吉布逊谜团的现象,因此能否降低融资成本并不能作为评价货币政策有效性的指标。籍此,文章对如何优化新型货币政策有效性提出了富有建设性的政策建议。     

Monetary Policy and Natural Disasters in a DSGE Model

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, speculation arose that the Federal Reserve might respond by easing monetary policy. This article uses a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model to investigate the appropriate monetary policy response to a natural disaster. We show that the standard Taylor rule response in models with and without nominal rigidities is to increase the nominal interest rate. That finding is unchanged when we consider the optimal policy response to a disaster. A nominal interest rate increase following a disaster mitigates both temporary inflation effects and output distortions that are attributable to nominal rigidities.     

Monetary Policy in Estimated Models of Small Open and Closed Economies

This paper compares monetary policy effects in New-Keynesian models of small open and closed economies fit to Canada. A monetary policy rule allows the central bank to systematically manage the nominal interest rate in response to inflation, output, and money growth variations. The structural parameters of a small open-economy (SOE) and a closed-economy (CE) models are estimated using a maximum-likelihood procedure with a Kalman filter. Estimation results show that the SOE and CE models lead to qualitatively similar estimates for the Canadian economy. Also, the effects of monetary policy shocks, and of other domestic shocks, generated in the SOE model resemble to those generated in the CE model. In addition, the forecast-error decomposition shows that foreign shocks account for small fractions of the variability observed in Canadian macroeconomic variables.