日本经济的增长与波动:1951-2002

1951-2002年的52年中,日本经济的增长与波动可明显地划分为三个阶段:高速增长期、平稳增长期和"失去的10年"或低速增长阶段,即出现了两次大的转折.运用增长会计的方法,从生产要素投入的供给可以解释由于劳动、资本、全要素生产率对经济增长的贡献度下降,导致了经济增长的两次大的转折.2003年以来日本经济开始全面复苏,步入新一轮的景气循环之中.     

中国电力周期与经济周期的协同性——基于Markov区制转移模型

采用1978—2015年中国电力消费和国内生产总值的年度数据,基于"三区制"马尔科夫区制转移模型,研究了电力消费和经济增长的动态转变过程,识别和划分了改革开放后中国电力周期和经济周期的阶段,并分析了两者在不同阶段的协同性。结果表明:电力周期和经济周期均具有低速增长期、稳定增长期和高速增长期三个区制转移特征;电力消费在低速增长期和高速增长期的波动性明显高于GDP,而在稳定增长期的波动性则显著小于GDP;20世纪80年代中期以前,是电力周期和经济周期的静态协同期;20世纪80年代中后期,两者处于非协同期;之后,两者处于显著的跨区制动态协同期,且处于协同期的电力周期与经济周期在时间上表现出较高的一致性。     

我国区域经济周期阶段同步性的分析

本文采用"谷―谷"法对1978～2010年我国各地区的经济周期阶段进行划分,并计算区域经济周期阶段同步性指数。其结果显示:(1)从整体趋势上看,改革开放至今我国区域经济周期阶段同步性有所提高,但其幅度不大。(2)当整体经济处于扩张阶段时,区域经济周期阶段同步性指数要高于当整体经济处于收缩阶段时的同步性指数。(3)我国区域经济周期阶段同步性呈现出"俱乐部"特征。     

中国经济周期的非对称性

笔者采用Clements和Krolzig参数检验方法,利用我国1979年第1季度～2009年第4季度实际季度GDP增长率数据,对我国经济周期的深度、尖度及陡度型非对称、经济周期的划分以及持续性等特征进行实证分析.结果表明,我国经济周期具有陡度型非对称特征,但并不具备深度型和尖度型非对称特征;我国经济从低速增长状态转移到高速增长状态的可能性较大,远远大于经济从低速增长状态转移到适速增长状态的可能性;经济处于适速增长阶段的持续性最高,处于高速增长阶段的持续性次之,而低速阶段持续性最低,且它具有一定的惰性但又具有较高的概率转向高速增长阶段.     

对中国改革开放以来经济周期的实证分析

对中国经济周期的研究是许多经济学家普遍关注的问题。中国改革开放以来,按照理论界比较有代表性的“谷-谷”划分法,中国经历了四个经济周期。本文运用聚类分析方法对1978年～2003年中国经济周期进行了实证分析,得出与“谷-谷”划分法相同的结论,同时分析了2003年中国经济是否是新一轮经济周期的开端这一问题,并对2004年中国经济增长进行解释。     

经济一体化亚种:近代中国经济周期的从属性

按照HP滤波方法对近代中国1887-1936年GDP进行周期分解,可以将50年的经济增长过程划分为5个周期,1918-1933年的第三个周期是近代中国经济发展最快的时期.同英关两国的经济周期比较,除了第一次世界大战期间有所不同外,其余周期区间的发展趋势、规律和特点都具有明显的趋同性,这是近代中国经济周期在世界经济范围内一体化亚种和从属地位的表现.在此基础上,我们分析了经济周期相异的原因所在,近代中国经济周期的从属地住和从属路径.     

中国经济周期波动的特征和影响因素研究

宏观经济周期波动历来受到中国经济学界和政府部门的关注和重视.本文以经济周期理论为依据,采用GDP增速指标和“谷—谷”法,将1953-2011年中国经济增长分为11个周期.中国经济周期波动从改革开放前的“低位—剧烈振荡”型转变为改革开放后的“高位—平缓波动”型,特别是进入21世纪以来,中国经济波动呈现微波化特征,经济周期波动整体上呈收敛态势.本文认为中国经济周期波动是内部传导机制与外部冲击机制共同作用的结果,分别从内生和外生角度探讨中国经济周期波动的影响因素.     

体制变动与经济周期的相关性分析

自1978年我国实行改革开放以来，国民经济出现了明显的周期性波动。以经济增长率(以GDP增长率计，下同)的“谷-谷”法来划分，我国经历了四个经济周期，即1978至1981年的第一个周期，1982至1986年的第二个周期，1987至1990年的第三个周期，1991年至今的第四个周期。最近的这一轮周期在1993年上半年达到高峰，1998年开始出现通货     

中国内地与香港经济周期的区制状态及协同性分析

笔者运用Markov区制转移模型,对中国内地与香港经济周期的区制状态以及两地经济周期的协同性进行了检验.结果显示:一方面,中国内地与香港经济周期均存在显著的三区制性质,即经济周期可划分为"低速"、"适速"和"高速"增长区制;另一方面,中国内地与香港经济周期的协同性水平偏低,并且存在依赖于区制状态的"门限性质",即在不同的经济周期区制内呈现出不同的协同性水平.     

我国经济增长与波动的实证研究

按照谷谷法,我国经济增长与波动轨迹可划分为10个周期。根据扩张与收缩的比率、波动幅度大小等波动特征,这10个周期又可分为三个阶段:改革开放前经济"大起大落"阶段;改革开放后经济高速增长阶段;改革开放后经济平稳快速增长阶段。这三个阶段中,经济增长的平均速度不断提高,经济增长的稳定性逐步增强。本文进一步从实证方面研究市场化进程对我国经济增长稳定性的影响,得出结论认为,市场化程度的不断提高将有利于经济的平稳运行。     

我国农业家庭经营的波动规律与演变趋势

改革开放以来,家庭经营一直受到来自城市化与农业经营环境两个方面因素的外生冲击.按照真实经济周期理论,农户对两种外生冲击预期收益率的变化造成了家庭经营投资费用的波动.首先将改革以来家庭经营波动划分为6个周期,然后运用真实经济周期理论对家庭经营的波动周期、波动幅度与演变趋势进行比较分析.研究结论表明,在新农村建设时期,随着城市化步伐逐步加快,以及政府增加对"三农"的投资、发展现代农业等外生冲击力度加大,传统的小农家庭经营必然向家庭农场制转型.而在家庭经营转型过程中,政府不应干预农户的自主选择,而应通过加大两种冲击的影响力度,引导家庭农场制应运而生.     

BUSINESS CYCLE,CURRENCY AND TRADE,REVISITED

This paper provides long‐run historical evidence for the link between business cycle synchronization, trade and the exchange rate regime. Using data from a large number of industrialized countries and a group of Asian economies, we examine this link in three sub‐periods: the first globalization period (1870–1913), the bloc economy period (1915–1959) and the second globalization period (1960–2004). The business cycle is identified as the series of deviates from a Hodrick–Prescott filtered trend. Cyclical turning points are located in the business cycles of our sample of 21 major countries, which enables us to comment on the characteristics of business cycles in the three periods. Cross‐correlations of the cyclical deviates are calculated for all the pairs of the 21 countries examined. It is apparent from casual inspection that the business cycle characteristics and the pattern of cross‐correlations in the bloc economy period are different from those found for the two globalization periods, whereas there is less difference between the two globalization periods. Following the estimations by Frankel and Rose, we relate business cycle synchronization to trade patterns and currency unions. Consequently, we find that European integration was already discernible in terms of business cycle synchronization in the early 1900s and that a similar synchronization was not discernible for Asia.     

A MODEL OF AN OPPORTUNISTIC-PARTISAN POLITICAL BUSINESS CYCLE

According to political business cycle theory, separate opportunistic and partisan approaches exist. It is obvious, as seen from theoretical and empirical points of view, that politicians aim for both opportunistic as well as partisan goals. This paper presents a model of a pre‐election political business cycle that manifests an indication of competence and a post‐election political business cycle that occurs because of the uncertainty of an election's winner monetary policy. In the pre‐election period competent governments expand the economy. The post‐election cycle depends on whether a leftist or a conservative government is in power in the pre‐election period, and if they are re‐elected or not.     

Credit and business cycles’ relationship: evidence from Spain

This study provides evidence on the interaction between business and credit cycles in Spain during the period 1970–2014. The paper works on three analyses: the cycle turning points are identified; the main features of credit and business cycles are documented; and in both cycles the causal relationship is assessed. We find differences in the features of the business and credit cycle phases, which lead to a scant degree of synchronization over time. The lack of synchronization might be a sign that the cyclic interaction could be non-contemporaneous. Our results reveal that there is causation. A significant lagged relationship between business and credit cycles is found; specifically, fluctuations of the business cycle lead fluctuations of the credit to non-financial corporations and a lag exists with respect to the fluctuations of the credit to households. We also examine episodes of credit boom and credit crunch. In the period 1970–2014, Spanish credit booms did not involve deeper business cycle contractions and credit crunches were not associated with deeper and longer business cycle contractions. These differences are related with the great importance of the real estate sector in Spain.     

International business cycle spillovers since the 1870s

This article considers the evolution of international business cycle interdependencies among 27 developed and developing countries since the beginning of 1870s, utilizing the generalized vector autoregressive (VAR)-based spillover index of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012), which allows the construction of a time-varying measure of business cycle spillovers. We find that, on average, 65% of the forecast error variance of the 27 countries’ business cycle shocks is due to international spillovers. However, the magnitude of international business cycle spillovers varies considerably over time. There is a clear increasing trend since the end of World War II and until the mid-1980s. After that, international business cycle interdependencies declined during the period that was dubbed the Great Moderation and stabilized around the beginning of the twenty-first century. During the Great Recession of 2008–2009, international business cycle spillovers increased to unprecedented levels. Finally, developed countries are consistently ranked as net transmitters of cyclical shocks to developing counties throughout the sample.     

Classical and modern business cycle measurement: The European case

This paper intends to harmonize two different approaches employed in the analysis of business cycles and, in doing so, it retrieves the stylized facts of the business cycle in Europe. We start with the classical approach proposed in Burns and Mitchell (1946) of dating and analyzing the business cycle. The stylized facts retrieved are commented and compared to those obtained by Harding and Pagan (2002) for the U.S.. Two conclusions can be extracted from the results: a) though the turning points obtained for individual countries seem to cluster and would suggest the idea of a common cycle, there are relevant differences in the stylized facts characterizing the business cycle in the individual European economies under analysis; b) moreover, we find relevant differences in the business cycle stylized facts of the European countries and the U.S., mostly in terms of the duration, the amplitude of the cycle and the shape of the recovery. We then adopt the modern alternative: the Markov-switching vector autoregression (MS-VAR). The models regime probabilities provide an optimal statistical inference of the turning point of the European business cycle. For assessing the capacity of the parametric approach to generate the stylized facts of the classical cycle in Europe, the stylized facts of the original data are compared to those of simulated data. Contrary to the results reported by Harding and Pagan (2002) , we show that the MS-VAR model is a good candidate to be used as an statistical instrument to improve the understanding of the business cycle.JEL Classification: E32, F43, F47, C32We are grateful to Mike Artis, Mike Clements and Adrian Pagan for useful comments and discussions. Financial support from the UK Economic and Social Research Council under grant L116251015 is gratefully acknowledged by the first author. The research of the second author was supported through a European Community Marie Curie Fellowship, contract HPMF-CT-2000-00761. Corresponding author: Juan Toro     

The last fifteen years of stagnation in Italy: a business cycle accounting perspective

In this paper, we investigate possible sources of declining economic growth in Italy beginning near the middle of the 1990s. A long-term data analysis suggests that the poor performance of the Italian economy cannot be blamed on an unfortunate business cycle contingency. Other countries of the euro area have shown better performance, and the macroeconomic data indicate that the Italian economy has not grown at the same rate as these other European economies. We investigate the sources of economic fluctuations in Italy by applying the business cycle accounting procedure introduced by Chari et al. (Econometrica 75(3):781–836, 2007). We analyze the relative importance of efficiency, labor, investment and government wedges for business cycles in Italy during the 1982–2008 period. We find that individual wedges have played different roles during this period; however, the efficiency wedge is shown to be the factor most responsible for the stagnation phase that began in approximately 1995. Our findings also show that the decline in labor market distortions that occurred in Italy during the 1990s alleviated the stagnation effect somewhat and prevented an even more abrupt slowdown in per capita output growth.     

A further note on the three phases of the US business cycle

Using a number of alternative approaches, Sichel (1994) demonstrated evidence supporting the notion that the US business cycle is best characterized as having three distinct phases, viz. contraction, followed by rapid expansion during the early stages of the recovery phase, followed by a period of more normal expansionary growth, with the cycle then repeating itself. This contrasts with the more usual expansion/contraction, two phase characterization but is more in keeping with the original notion of the business cycle as conceived by Burns and Mitchell (1946). Here an alternative approach is employed for shedding light on this issue. Following the original suggestion of Hamilton (1989, 1990, 1991), a simple nonlinear, three phase, regime switching Markov model is compared against its simpler two phase version to determine which version is statistically more consistent with the business cycle historical evidence. The evidence seems to clearly support the three phase characterization and that this characterization yields interesting information on business cycle dynamics which is necessarily missed by the two phase model formulation.     

Empirical Evidence on the Austrian Business Cycle Theory

The Austrian business cycle theory suggests that a monetary shock disturbs relative prices, such as the term structure of interest rates, systematically altering profit rates across economic sectors. Resource use responds to those changes, generating a cyclical pattern of real income. The divergence of the interest rate structure, from the previous and unchanged time preferences, means that the expansion is unsustainable and must end in recession. Quarterly data for eight U.S. business cycles, 1950:1 through 1991:1 are standardized by time period and used to explore business cycle facts and relations between money, interest rates, capacity utilization and income. Results are consistent with the hypotheses of the Austrian theory of a business cycle caused by a monetary shock and propagated by relative price changes.     

Equilibrium business cycles with idle resources and variable capacity utilization

Summary A real business cycle economy is studied in which some capital is idle each period and the fraction of capital left idle varies in response to technology shocks. Previous equilibrium business cycle models have the characteristic that the entire stock of capital is used for production in each period. Our objective is to determine whether incorporating idle resources, something regularly observed in actual economies, significantly affects the cyclical properties of the model and hence changes our views about the importance of technology shocks for aggregate fluctuations. In our analysis we do not assume an aggregate production function, but instead model production as taking place at individual plants that are subject to idiosyncratic technology shocks. Each period the plant manager must choose whether to operate the plant or to let the plant remain idle. We find that the cyclical properties of this model are surprisingly similar to those of a standard real business cycle economy. One difference is that the model displays variation in factor shares while the standard models does not.The authors acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation.