Persistence in U.S. State Unemployment Rates: Errata and Extensions

Using panel unit root tests allowing for breaking deterministics, 2007 found that many U.S. state unemployment rates were stationary, a result at odds with the traditional view that unemployment rates are path‐dependent and subject to shocks that have permanent effects. 2009 extended the analysis to directly examine whether the series were fractionally integrated and reported that models with two breaks‐in‐mean do suggest many state unemployment rates were mean‐reverting. The purpose of this note is to correct an error contained in 2009 , which when modified, indicates that state unemployment rates were non‐stationary processes well‐characterized by hysteresis.     

IS THERE AN ASYMMETRIC BEHAVIOUR IN AFRICAN INFLATION? A NON‐LINEAR APPROACH

In this paper we test the inflation persistence hypothesis as well as model the long‐run behaviour of inflation rates in a pool of African countries using a non‐linear framework. In order to do so, we rely on unit root tests applied to non‐linear models and fractional integration. The results show that the hypothesis of inflation persistence does not hold empirically for most of the countries. In addition, the estimated models (logistic smooth transition autoregressions) are stable in the sense that the variable tends to remain in the regime (low inflation or high inflation) once reached, and changes between regimes are only achieved after a shock. The results also indicate that the effects of the shocks on inflation tend to die out; exogenous factors, i.e. supply shocks and inertia may be causing this outcome, as they play a substantial role in the determination of the inflation rates for our selected African countries.     

Interaction between structural and cyclical shocks in production and employment

Interaction between Structural and Cyclical Shocks in Production and Employment. — A major aim of recent empirical modelling of the business cycle is to identify the relative importance of aggregate supply and demand shocks. This paper uses the methodology of unobserved (or structural) components time series models for the identification of technology and demand shocks in a two-equation system of structural labour productivity and industrial output. It allows us to introduce the correlation between the structural and cyclical shocks such that the mutual dependency of these shocks can be estimated explicitly. The data is quarterly time series of labour productivity in industry and industrial output for Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Our results show that the covariance of the dynamics of structural and cyclical shocks appears to be important in these countries.     

Unemployment Dynamics, and Propagation of Aggregate and Reallocation Shocks in the Netherlands

This paper models the propagation at the macro level of four types of shocks using the SVAR approach. Time series data for the Netherlands on job creation, job destruction, the number of vacancies and labour supply are used to identify aggregate demand and supply shocks, and reallocation demand and supply shocks as different sources of unemployment dynamics. Each of these four types of shocks appears to have at least some influence on unemployment both in the short and long run. The long run influence of the aggregate labour supply shock is estimated to be very limited. It indicates that additional labour supply is almost fully absorbed by labour demand in the long run.     

VICIOUS AND VIRTUOUS CIRCLES – THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF UNEMPLOYMENT

We develop an empirical non-linear model of equilibrium unemployment and test its policy implications for a number of OECD countries. The model here sees the natural rate and the associated equilibrium path of unemployment as endogenous, pushed by the interaction of shocks and the institutional structure of the economy; the channel through which these two forces feed on each other is a political economy process whereby voters with "limited information" on the natural rate of unemployment react to shocks by demanding more or less social protection. The reduced form results from a dozen OECD economies give support to the model prediction of a pattern of unemployment behaviour in which unemployment moves between high and low equilibria in response to shocks and the model specification is superior in forecasting performance out of sample to alternative models of "generalised hysteresis".     

Asymmetric behavior of unemployment rates: Evidence from the quantile covariate unit root test

Mixed results for unemployment dynamics are reported in many studies using linear or non-linear unit root tests. A possible explanation is that the literature focuses on the average behavior of unemployment and assumes that the speed of adjustment towards its long-run equilibrium is constant, regardless of the magnitudes and signs of shocks. This paper seeks to re-examine the dynamics of the unemployment rates in terms of shocks for 12 OECD countries. A newly developed quantile unit root test by Galvao (2009) is applied to show potential asymmetric responses of unemployment to shocks over various quantiles, depending on the size and sign of the shocks that hit the unemployment rate. Our results suggest that generally, the unemployment rates are not only stationary but also exhibit obvious asymmetric behavior, in the sense that in the lower quantiles, negative shocks with large absolute value tend to induce faster speed of adjustment towards the long-run equilibrium, while in the upper quantiles, large positive shocks do not, and hysteresis exists. These findings can explain why unemployment rates display the behavior of fast rises and slow falls.     

Cross-country interdependencies in growth dynamics: A model of output growth in the G7 economies, 1960–1994

Cross-Country Interdependencies in Growth Dynamics: A Model of Output Growth in the G7 Economies, 1960–1994. — Recently developed methods in time series analysis are employed to study output growth across the G7 economies. The methods accommodate the interdependencies that exist between economies’ growth, and provide the means for analyzing the sources of shocks to output growth and for examining the time profiles of the shock effects. Sophisticated dynamic adjustments in output are identified, due to lagged responses to shocks, the feedback of effects across countries, and the differential speeds of response to different types of shock. Among the shocks considered, those to world trade and oil prices are shown to significantly affect many countries’ output levels.     

Persistence in U.S. State Unemployment Rates

Romero‐Ávila and Usabiaga (2007) find that many U.S. state unemployment rates are stationary, a result at odds with the traditional view that unemployment rates are path‐dependent and subject to shocks that have permanent effects. They base their results on multivariate unit root tests that provide for two breaks in mean. This note extends the analysis to directly examine whether the series were fractionally integrated. When no allowance is made for breaking means, the results suggest evidence in favor of hysteresis, an outcome that generally applies when one break in mean is considered. Allowing for two breaks demonstrates that the evidence in favor of the natural rate and the hysteresis hypotheses is temporally sensitive.     

Income Convergence in African Countries: Evidence from a Stationary Test With Multiple Structural Breaks

This paper examines the catching‐up (stochastic convergence in real per capita income) hypothesis for 52 African countries with respect to the USA. over the 1969‐2011 period, using a highly flexible stationarity test. The empirical results show (i) that all African countries experienced at least one break, switching between catching‐up and divergence paths during the sample period; (ii) that structural breaks tend to coincide with political instability, trade liberalisation policies and terms of trade shocks; (iii) that among the 52 African countries studied, only five lie on the catching‐up path, while the remaining 47 diverge from the USA. Our results show that the economic performance of African countries fall far behind those of the USA and that the economic growth tragedy of Africa continues.     

Sources of Real Exchange Rate Volatility in Africa: The Case of ECOWAS*

Abstract: This study examines the impact of (real) demand shocks, (aggregate) supply shocks, and monetary shocks on real exchange rates in 13 West African countries. We observe that the real demand shocks explain most of the fluctuations in real exchange rates in all these countries. Accordingly, policymakers should adopt a careful demand management strategy by controlling government expenditure and taxes.     

THE IMPLICATIONS OF SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMIC GROWTH FOR THE REST OF AFRICA

This paper measures the extent to which South African economic growth is an engine of growth in sub‐Saharan Africa. Results based on panel data estimation for 47 African countries over four decades suggest that South African growth has a substantial positive impact on growth in the rest of Africa, even after controlling for other growth determinants. The estimates are robust to the effects of global and regional shocks, changes in model specification, and sample period.     

Mozambique Metical Exchange Rate Dynamics: Evidence of Fractional Co‐Integration in the USA and South African Rates

This paper studies the exchange rate dynamics of the Mozambique metical with respect to the US dollar and the South African rand. However, instead of using standard I(0)/I(1) techniques, we use long memory and fractionally integrated and co‐integrated models. Our results indicate that the two exchange rates are highly persistent, with orders of integration equal to or above 1. They also seem to be co‐integrated, with an order of integration close to albeit above 0 but with an AR coefficient very close to 1. Thus, although the two series seem to be fractionally co‐integrated, shocks in the long‐run relationship between the two variables are persistent and take a long time to disappear.     

Transmission of China's Shocks to the BRIS Countries

This paper investigates the effects of China on the BRIS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. We identify Chinese supply and demand shocks and assess their transmission to BRIS in a structural dynamic factor model framework estimated over the period 1995Q2‐2009Q4. The findings show that Chinese supply shocks are more important than its demand shocks. Supply shocks produce positive and significant output responses in all BRIS countries. And while these supply shocks have a permanent impact on the BRIS countries, the effects of demand shocks are short‐lived. Both supply and demand shocks are transmitted through trade rather than financial linkages. However, the responses of the BRIS countries are heterogeneous and therefore require country‐specific policy responses.     

PATTERNS OF CO‐MOVEMENT BETWEEN SOUTH AFRICA AND GERMANY: EVIDENCE FROM THE PERIOD 1985 TO 2006

This paper examines the co‐movement between Germany and South Africa by applying a dynamic factor model. Because these two countries have a long history of predominant trade ties, they deemed to be suitable proxies to analyse the channels of transmission of positive supply and demand shocks in a developed economy and the effects of these on an emerging market economy. In contrast to general expectations, the paper concludes that a German supply shock has more of a demand‐shock effect on the South African economy, while a German demand shock is transmitted through price in South Africa. This implies that the policy response in South Africa should not necessarily be the same as in Germany.     

Monetary policy shocks and exchange rates in Asian countries

In this paper, we empirically investigate the effects of monetary policy shocks on exchange rates in Asian countries. To do so, we use VAR models which impose sign restrictions on impulse responses to identify monetary policy shocks. We find that contractionary monetary policy shocks lead to significant exchange rate appreciation in Malaysia, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea. However, in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, we find either a significant depreciation or no significant effect. These results suggest that an interest rate increase (or decrease) may not necessarily shield Asian countries from exchange rate depreciation (or appreciation) pressure following a U.S. interest rate increase (or decrease).     

Terms of Trade Shocks and the Current Account: Evidence from Five Industrial Countries

What is the effect of shocks to the terms of trade on a country's current account position? The Harberger-Laursen-Metzler effect predicts that an adverse shock to the terms of trade will worsen the current account balance; in contrast, the prediction of intertemporal models of the current account is dependent on the duration of the shock. This paper examines several features of the terms of trade series of five OECD countries, and the relationship between terms of trade shocks and the current account balance. Median shocks to the terms of trade are found to be highly persistent, yet with a large transitory component, and to account for only a small share of the variability of current account balances in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In contrast, terms of trade shocks are found to account for a relatively large proportion of the variability of current account balances in Australia and New Zealand.

     

Is the proposed East African Monetary Union an optimal currency area? a structural vector autoregression analysis

This paper empirically assesses the suitability of the East African (EA) countries for a regional monetary union by testing for symmetry of the underlying structural shocks. The results indicate that supply and demand shocks are generally asymmetric, which does not lend strong support for forming a currency union in the EA region at the moment. However, the speed and magnitude of adjustment to shocks is similar across the countries. Therefore, further integration of the economies might lead to more favorable conditions for a monetary union. Although evidence in favor of linking an EA currency to an external anchor is weak, such support seems to favor the Euro.     

Adjustment dynamics and the natural rate: an account of UK unemployment

This paper challenges what is the standard account of UK employment,namely that the major swings in unemployment over the past 25years are due predominantly to movements in the underlying empiricalnatural rate of unemployment (NRU). Our analysis suggests thatthe UK NRU has remained reasonably stable through time and thatthe medium-run swings in unemployment are due, instead, to veryprolonged after-effects of persistent (transitory but long-lasting)shocks. We argue that (i) past UK labour market shocks haveprolonged after-effects on unemployment due to interactionsamong different lagged adjustment processes in the labour market;(ii) many of the important shocks that have hit the UK labourmarket over the past 25 years have been persistent; and (iii)the persistence of the shocks is complementary to the persistenceof the lagged adjustment processes in generating movements ofUK employment.     

Volatility Spillovers between the Equity Market and Foreign Exchange Market in South Africa in the 1995‐2010 Period

This paper attempts to assess the extent of volatility spillovers between the equity market and the foreign exchange market in South Africa. Multistep family of the General Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity models are used for this end, whereby volatility shocks obtained from the mean equation estimation in each market are included in the conditional volatility of the other market, respectively. The paper selects the appropriate volatility models for each market following criteria such as covariance stationarity, persistence in variance and leverage effects. The finding of the paper indicates that there is a unidirectional relationship in terms of volatility spillovers from the equity market to the foreign exchange market. The paper supports the view that the extent of foreign participation in the South African equity market possibly contributes to this phenomenon.     

我国是否存在失业回滞效应？——基于第一、二代面板单位根检验的实证分析

就业是民生之本,然而自上世纪九十年代以来我国失业率逐年攀升,日益严峻的失业问题已引起政策当局和学术界的广泛关注与高度重视。有鉴于此,本文在第一代面板单位根检验的基础上,结合最新发展的第二代面板单位根检验方法,对我国是否存在失业回滞效应展开深入研究,进而为我国促进就业的政策选择提供重要的参考依据。研究结果表明,我国存在着显著的失业回滞效应,这就使得经济周期波动等外部冲击对我国失业产生永久性影响,从而在很大程度上造就了我国失业率逐年攀升、高居不下的局面,现阶段政府实施干预性的宏观调控政策显得十分必要。在此基础上,本文对降低乃至消除失业回滞效应、完善我国治理失业的宏观调控机制提出了若干政策建议。