Oil prices and the macroeconomy reconsideration for Germany: Using continuous wavelet

The cross wavelet analysis is used in the study to decompose the time–frequency effects of oil price changes on the German macroeconomy. We argue that the relationship between oil prices and industrial production is ambiguous. Our results show that there are both phase and anti-phase relationships between oil price returns and inflation and in most of the cases inflation is the leading variable. Additional evidence shows that there is a huge inconsistency between the phase-difference of the return series of oil price and industrial production at the 12–16 month frequency bands but at the 16–24 month frequency bands, we find that oil price changes that have occurred during 1982–2009 were demand-driven. In a nutshell our results suggest that oil price changes that have occurred after 1994 were demand-driven and the volatility of the inflation rate started to decrease after the 1990s but the volatility of the industrial output growth rate started to decrease after the 2000s.     

消费物价指数与生产者价格指数:谁带动谁?

The consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) are interrelated but significantly different concepts. Relationships between the two indices may be that of causality or non-causality. The paper conducts a Granger-causality test on China’s CPI and PPI data for the period from January 2001 to August 2008, and finds that CPI Granger causes the change in PPI, and the latter reacts to the former with a time lag of 1–3 months. The result may suggest that in contemporary Chinese economy, demand-side factors have played a more important role than supply-side factors, although the two sides both have influences on domestic inflation trend which is measured by CPI. __________ Translated from Jingji Yanjiu 经济研究 (Economic Research Journal), 2008, (11): 16–26     

Structural oil price shocks and policy uncertainty

Increases in the real price of oil not explained by changes in global oil production or by global real demand for commodities are associated with significant increases in economic policy uncertainty and its four components (the volume of newspaper coverage of policy uncertainty, CPI forecast interquartile range, tax legislation expiration, and federal expenditures forecast interquartile range). Oil-market specific demand shocks account for 31% of conditional variation in economic policy uncertainty and 22.9% of conditional variation in CPI forecast interquartile range after 24 months. Positive oil shocks due to global real aggregate demand for commodities significantly reduce economic policy uncertainty. Structural oil price shocks appear to have long-term consequences for economic policy uncertainty, and to the extent that the latter has impact on real activity the policy connection provides an additional channel by which oil price shocks have influence on the economy. As a robustness check, structural oil price shocks are significantly associated with economic policy uncertainty in Europe and energy-exporting Canada.     

Structural breaks and relative price convergence among US cities

This paper examines whether inclusion of structural breaks helps resolve the puzzling result of excessively slow speed of convergence in relative prices across US cities while using long time series data on CPI. With an endogenously determined single break in 1985 in annual CPI data for 17 major US cities between 1918 and 2010, the panel unit root test results provide overwhelming evidence of convergence of relative prices across cities, which is consistent with the existing literature. Most importantly, this study finds that the speed of convergence with structural break is faster than that reported by previous panel studies with no structural break that use similar long time series data. Furthermore, correcting for small-sample bias (the so-called “Nickell Bias”) and time aggregation bias generates a half-life of 3.9 years, which is 64% shorter than the half-life estimate with no structural break and no bias correction. The breakpoint in 1985 coincides with the beginning of the period of Great Moderation during which inflation, along with other macro variables, has become more stable and its impact on relative prices across US cities seems to have waned.     

Evidence on the effects of inflation on price dispersion under indexation

Distortionary effects of inflation on relative prices are the main argument for inflation stabilization in macro models with sticky prices. Under indexation of non-optimized prices, those models imply a nonlinear and dynamic impact of inflation on the cross-sectional price dispersion (relative price or inflation variability, RPV). Using US sectoral price data, we estimate such a relationship between inflation and RPV, also taking into account the endogeneity of inflation by using two- and three-stage least-squares and GMM techniques, which turns out to be relevant. We find an effect of (expected) inflation on RPV, and our results indicate that average (??trend??) inflation is important for the RPV?Cinflation relationship. Lagged inflation matters for indexation in the CPI data, but is not important empirically in the PPI data.     

Interdependencies in the energy–bioenergy–food price systems: A cointegration analysis

The present paper studies the interdependencies between the energy, bioenergy and food prices. We develop a vertically integrated multi-input, multi-output market model with two channels of price transmission: a direct biofuel channel and an indirect input channel. We test the theoretical hypothesis by applying time-series analytical mechanisms to nine major traded agricultural commodity prices, including corn, wheat, rice, sugar, soybeans, cotton, banana, sorghum and tea, along with one weighted average world crude oil price. The data consists of 783 weekly observations extending from January 1994 to December 2008. The empirical findings confirm the theoretical hypothesis that the prices for crude oil and agricultural commodities are interdependent including also commodities not directly used in bioenergy production: an increase in oil price by 1 $/barrel increases the agricultural commodity prices between 0.10 $/tonne and 1.80 $/tonne. Contrary to the theoretical predictions, the indirect input channel of price transmission is found to be small and statistically insignificant.     

Decomposing time-frequency relationship between producer price and consumer price indices in Romania through wavelet analysis

This study analyses Granger-causality between the return series of CPI and PPI (i.e., inflation measured by CPI and PPI) for Romania, by using monthly data covering the period of 1991m1 to 2011m11. To analyse the issue in depth, this study decomposes the time-frequency relationship between CPI- and PPI-based inflation through a continuous wavelet approach. Our results provide strong evidence that there are cyclical effects from variables (as variables are observed in phase), while anti-cyclical effects are not observed.     

Growth-returns nexus: Evidence from three Central and Eastern European countries

Using a sample of monthly data from January 1996 to December 2012, we provide new evidence on the unidirectional Granger causality from real stock market returns to real economic activity in three Central and Eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. By employing the Granger causality tests of Cheung and Ng (1996) and Hong (2001), we show evidence of short-term (up to 6 months), medium-term (up to 12 months) and long-term (up to 24 months) causality for the Czech Republic and Hungary. In the case of Poland, only medium-term and long-term causality is found. Using rolling-correlation analysis, we find that although the growth–returns relationship is positive during the examined period, there is an apparent variability in the strength of this relationship that is particularly visible during the period of the financial crisis in the late 2000s. Consequently, we find that the predictive power of stock markets in the CEE-3 countries increases during periods of high market volatility and decreases during periods of economic recovery.     

CPI与PPI的非线性Granger因果关系研究——基于深圳市月度数据的实证分析

文章基于深圳市2005年1月至2013年12月的居民消费价格指数(CPI)和工业生产者出厂价格指数(PPI),运用非线性Granger因果关系检验,从非线性的角度考察深圳市的CPI与PPI之间的作用关系,并采用逐步检验方法对CPI与PPI之间在不同时期的作用关系进行动态分析。非线性Granger因果关系检验的结果表明,在所考察的样本时期内,存在着由PPI到CPI的单向非线性Granger因果关系。逐步检验则进一步显示,PPI是引起CPI变化的非线性Granger因果原因。这说明供给因素在以CPI衡量的通货膨胀中占优于需求因素,也意味着上游生产要素的价格上涨将传导至下游消费品的价格,以致加大了成本推动通货膨胀的压力。因此,治理通货膨胀应采取以供给调控为主的政策,并适时适度地根据CPI与PPI之间的动态关系进行宏观调控。     

Energy price transmissions during extreme movements

This paper investigates price transmissions across European energy forward markets at distinct maturities during both normal times and extreme fluctuation periods. To this end, we rely on the traditional Granger causality test (in mean) and its multivariate extension in tail distribution developed by Candelon, Joëts, and Tokpavi (2013). Considering forward energy prices at 1, 10, 20, and 30 months, it turns out that no significant causality exists between markets at regular times whereas comovements are at play during extreme periods especially in bear markets. More precisely, energy prices comovements appear to be stronger at short horizons than at long horizons, testifying an eventual Samuelson mechanism in the maturity prices curve. Diversification strategies tend to be more efficient as maturity increases.     

需求拉动,还是投资推动——基于新一轮通胀周期的实证研究

对通货膨胀及其成因的研究一直是宏观经济学与政府政策的一项重要内容。本文通过建立向量误差修正模型(VECM),对我国1997～2009年新一周期的通货膨胀进行实证研究。结果发现,月度消费价格指数(CPI)和工业品出厂价格指数(PPI)之间存在长期均衡关系,其格兰杰因果关系走向是CPI影响PPI,即价格传导走向是自下而上,而不是相反。这也就是说,总需求的扩张仍是此阶段通货膨胀的根源,所谓结构性通胀、输入型通胀等非典型通胀的解释得不到实证支持。研究还发现,在解释现阶段通胀中,供给价格弹性和巨型经济体是需要注意的两个因素。     

基于不确定性视角的PPI与CPI传导关系真相研究

通货膨胀背景下,有关PPI和CPI之间的价格传导关系成为备受关注的热点问题,但现有文献均局限于PPI和CPI均值意义上的格兰杰因果性讨论。事实上,无论从宏观理论出发还是从计量理论出发,PPI和CPI衡量的通胀率的不确定性(inflation uncertainty)及不确定性间的相关性更应引起学术界以及货币当局的关注。鉴于此,我们借鉴Hafner and Herwartz(2004)提出的二阶矩意义的格兰杰因果检验方法,构建Wald形式的统计量对CPI和PPI不确定性因果关系进行检验,发现从通胀不确定性视角来看,PPI和CPI是相互传导的,从传导模式来看,无论以PPIMG还是以CGP"I充当"PPI,均只能在短期影响CPI,而CPI对它们的影响在长短期都是一贯的。由此推断,CPI到PPI方向构成了二者不确定性传导的"系统性"路径,通胀治理须从需求方考虑。     

消费者价格指数与生产者价格指数:谁带动谁?

消费者价格指数(CPI)与生产者价格指数(PPI)是相互联系并有显著区别的概念。两者之间的因果关系或非因果关系有多种可能情形。本文对中国消费者价格指数(CPI)和生产者价格指数(PPI)2001年1月至2008年7月数据的格兰杰因果检验结果显示,在所考察时期内,消费者价格指数是生产者价格指数变动的格兰杰原因,后者经过1—3个月左右的时滞对前者的变动作出反应。这个结果很可能意味着,在所考察时期内,在影响以消费者价格指数(CPI)来衡量的国内通货膨胀中,需求方面的因素相对大于供给方面的作用,尽管需求因素和供给因素都共同地影响了国内通货膨胀的走势。     

Functional sensitivity of testing the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis

Conventional tests for the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis mostly apply a quadratic equation in modeling the non-linear relationship between environmental indices (such as air pollutants) and welfare measures (such as income per capita). If their inverted-U shaped pattern is empirically accepted with two significant regressors, the income per capita and its square transformation, the EKC hypothesis is supported. Using an OECD sample, this paper shows that the validity of testing the EKC hypothesis is sensitive to how we transform income non-linearly in sulfur and carbon EKC regressions. This paper carries out experiments on different powers of γ for transforming income non-linearly and concludes that only when 0 < γ < 1 and 1 < γ < 2 will the EKC regression demonstrate a testable non-linear cointegration relationship between the two air pollutants and income per capita. In the generalized EKC regressions estimated in this paper, although we find sulfur and carbon EKC patterns in the OECD sample, none of the EKC regressions using different γ is a cointegrating equation. This finding implies an inside critique to the EKC literature that failure of cointegration of the conventional EKC regression is not because of using the quadratic functional form, but because of the fundamentally spurious relationship between the trends of pollutants and income levels.     

The U.S. inflation process: Does nominal wage inflation cause price inflation,vice-versa,or neither?

Low unemployment has revived concerns about accelerated inflation. This paper examines the relationship between price and nominal wage inflation. It finds that it varies by business cycle. Prior to the great oil shock of 1973, price and nominal wage inflation were unconnected in a Granger-causal sense. In the 1970s, wage inflation caused price inflation. In the 1980s, the relationship reversed and price inflation caused nominal wage inflation. In the 1990s, the pattern has changed again, and there is some weak evidence of bidirectional causality between wages and PPI inflation. However, wages continue to have no impact on CPI inflation, which is widely viewed as one of the Fed's target variables. This suggests that wage inflation should be de-emphasized as a monetary policy information variable.     

Would it have paid to be in the eurozone?

Giving up an independent monetary policy and a flexible exchange rate are the key aspects of joining a monetary union. In this paper we analyse how joining the euro area would have affected the Polish business cycle during the recent financial crisis. To this end we construct a small open economy DSGE model and estimate it for Poland and the euro area. Then we run a counterfactual simulation, assuming Poland's euro area accession in 1q2007. The results are striking — volatilities of GDP and inflation increase substantially. In particular, had Poland adopted the euro, GDP growth would have oscillated between − 6% and + 9% (− 9% to + 11% under more extreme assumptions) instead of between 1% and 7%. We conclude that during the analysed period independent monetary policy and, in particular, the flexible exchange rate played an important stabilizing role for the Polish economy.     

Functional sensitivity of testing the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis

Conventional tests for the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis mostly apply a quadratic equation in modeling the non-linear relationship between environmental indices (such as air pollutants) and welfare measures (such as income per capita). If their inverted-U shaped pattern is empirically accepted with two significant regressors, the income per capita and its square transformation, the EKC hypothesis is supported. Using an OECD sample, this paper shows that the validity of testing the EKC hypothesis is sensitive to how we transform income non-linearly in sulfur and carbon EKC regressions. This paper carries out experiments on different powers of γ for transforming income non-linearly and concludes that only when 0 < γ < 1 and 1 < γ < 2 will the EKC regression demonstrate a testable non-linear cointegration relationship between the two air pollutants and income per capita. In the generalized EKC regressions estimated in this paper, although we find sulfur and carbon EKC patterns in the OECD sample, none of the EKC regressions using different γ is a cointegrating equation. This finding implies an inside critique to the EKC literature that failure of cointegration of the conventional EKC regression is not because of using the quadratic functional form, but because of the fundamentally spurious relationship between the trends of pollutants and income levels.     

The Laspeyres bias in the Spanish consumer price index

The CPI compares the cost of acquiring a reference quantity vector at current and base prices. Such reference vector is the vector of mean quantities actually bought by a reference population, whose consumption patterns are investigated during a period τ prior to the index base period 0. This paper shows that unless the price change between these two dates is taken into account, the CPI ceases to be a proper statistical price index of the Laspeyres type. Among several negative consequences, the most important is that this omission produces a bias in the measurement of inflation: the ‘Laspeyres bias’. Using Spanish data, the size of the Laspeyres bias is estimated at -0.061% per year, during 1992–1998. The Laspeyres bias in shorter time periods reached -0.122% per year in 1992, and -0.108 in 1997.     

An application of Lotka–Volterra model to Taiwan's transition from 200 mm to 300 mm silicon wafers

In this paper, we explore the innovation growth of 200 mm and 300 mm silicon wafers from Taiwan. Using the historic data, we simulate the growth of the area of 200 mm and 300 mm silicon wafers manufactured in Taiwan by the competitive Lotka–Volterra model. The parameters in the Lotka–Volterra model estimated with the realistic data are obtained numerically. The dynamic growth of competitive relationship between 200 mm silicon wafers and 300 mm silicon wafers is then analyzed. To prove the performance of the model, we further compare the famous Bass model and the Lotka–Volterra model. We also perform the equilibrium analysis to determine the long-term stability state in the simulation trajectory. Our research exhibits that 200 mm silicon wafers and 300 mm silicon wafers show a prey–predator relationship under the assumption of natural competition in the global semiconductor market. From a managerial perspective, the coefficients in the Lotka–Volterra model of exponential growth, self-interaction and cross-interaction represent the strength of product attractiveness, niche capacity and interaction for two competition products. We also find that there exists a stable equilibrium state for 200 mm silicon wafers and 300 mm silicon wafers. The prey 200 mm generation does not disappear completely; it finally settles to a constant market alongside the predator 300 mm generation.     

On the Granger causality between median inflation and price dispersion

The Granger-causal relationship between the size and dispersion of fluctuations in sub-components of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) is examined using both in-sample and out-of-sample tests and data from January 1968 to December 2008. Strong in-sample evidence is found for feedback between median inflation and price dispersion; the evidence for Granger-causation from median inflation to price dispersion remains strong in out-of-sample testing, but is less strong for Granger-causation in the opposite direction. The implications of these results for the variety of price-level determination models in the literature are discussed.