Searching for the natural rate of interest: a euro area perspective

A time-varying natural rate of interest is estimated for the euro area using a multivariate unobserved components model. The problem of aggregating interest rate data for the pre-EMU period is directly addressed, and a simple method is proposed in order to adjust the risk premia in the interest rate data prior to 1999. We show that, for the pre-EMU period, using risk-unadjusted policy rates leads to periods of high risk premia being erroneously taken as monetary policy replies to the output gap; in contrast, using risk-adjusted policy rates yields an estimate of the reaction of monetary policy to the output gap corresponding approximately to an increase of 40 basis points for a 1%positive deviation of output from potential output. A positive deviation of inflation from its trend of 1%is estimated to have triggered an approximately 1.2%increase in short-term interest rates.     

Interest rate reaction functions for the euro area

Estimating interest rate reaction functions for the euro area is still hampered by the short time span since the conduct of a single monetary policy. This is why estimates of union-wide reaction functions are usually based on historical pre-EMU data. In this paper we circumvent the common use of aggregated data before 1999 by estimating interest rate reaction functions based on a panel including actual EMU Member States. We find that exploiting the cross-section dimension of a multi-country panel and accounting for cross-country heterogeneity in advance of the single monetary policy improves the ability of historical reaction functions to describe actual interest rate dynamics. We retrieve a panel reaction function which is employed for evaluating interest rate setting since 1999.     

金融结构及其对货币传导机制的影响

本文在简要考察中国金融结构转型中货币政策机制 ,包括货币政策的工具、效率前沿和规则及相应的货币传导机制变迁轨迹的基础上 ,根据结构分割点原则 ,实证检验、估计和分析了金融结构变迁对货币政策的适用工具和反应函数的影响 ,以及对货币传导的利率机制 ,即由政策利率到市场利率、并进而到通胀率 -产出波动前沿的影响。基本的结论是 ,金融结构变迁深刻地影响着货币传导机制的性质和作用程度     

Asymmetric effects of monetary policy shocks on economic performance: empirical evidence from Turkey

This study investigates the asymmetric effects of monetary policy shocks on the macroeconomic variables of exchange rate, output and inflation for an emerging economy ? Turkey ? by using monthly data between 1990 and 2014. We employ the innovative nonlinear vector autoregressive model of Kilian and Vigfusson (2011), which allows us to observe the effect of different stances (tight or loose) and different sizes (small or large) of monetary policy actions. Our empirical evidence reveals that tight monetary policy, which, in this case, is captured with a positive shock to interest rate, decreases exchange rate, output and prices, as economic theory suggests. Loose monetary policy, which is captured with a negative shock to interest rate, has the opposite effect on these variables. However, the effects of loose monetary policy are weaker than the effects of tight monetary policy because loose monetary policy shocks are less effective than tight monetary policy shocks. Moreover, as the magnitude of a shock increases, the difference between the effects of tight and loose monetary policy policies also increases.     

前瞻性货币政策反应函数在我国货币政策中的检验

本文在泰勒等西方学者对货币政策反应函数研究的基础上,构造一个适合我国国情的前瞻性货币政策反应函数,从市场利率(同业拆借利率)、管制利率(存贷款利率)以及两者利差三个层次,通过该反应函数对我国货币政策的实证检验结果发现,一方面,该反应函数能够很好地描述同业拆借利率、存贷款利率和两者利差的具体走势,能够为我国货币政策的制定提供一个参考尺度,以衡量货币政策的松紧。另一方面,检验结果表明,三个层次的利率对预期通胀率和预期产出的反应绝大多数都不足,这说明,我国货币政策是一种内在不稳定的货币政策。     

Risk and Policy Shocks on the US Term Structure

We document two stylized facts of US short‐term and long‐term interest rate data seemingly incompatible with the expectations hypothesis: low contemporaneous cross‐correlation and relatively slow adjustment to long‐run relationships. We explain these features in a small structural model with three types of randomness: While a persistent monetary policy shock implies immediate identical reactions through the term structure, both a transitory policy shock and an autocorrelated risk premium allow for sustained deviations. Indeed, we find important impacts and persistence of risk premia and considerable contribution of transitory policy shocks to short rates. Results of standard expectations hypothesis tests can be rationalized.     

中国货币政策独立性和有效性检验——基于1994-2004年数据

基于葛兰杰因果方法对1994-2004年中国货币政策独立性和有效性进行的检验结果显示:在独立性方面,利率不是货币数量的葛兰杰原因,说明考察期内中国货币政策总体上保持了对外独立性,否定了钉住汇率制度是造成中国货币政策不独立的先验判断;在有效性方面,仅显示货币数量M0对物价有肯定的正向影响,货币数量M1和利率对产出及物价的影响力均不显著。这意味着货币政策效果不理想的主要原因是中国金融体系发育不成熟、企业治理结构不完善、市场机制不健全等内部因素,而不应归咎于传统钉住汇率制度的外部制约。因此,提高货币政策效果的策略应该是加速金融体系的发展,完善企业治理结构,而不是放弃保持汇率基本稳定的汇率管理方针。     

Monetary policy before and after the euro: evidence from Greece

We model Greek monetary policy in the 1990s and use our findings to address two interrelated questions. First, how was monetary policy conducted in the 1990s so that the hitherto highest-inflation EU country managed to join the euro by 2001? Second, how compatible is the ECB monetary policy with Greek economic conditions? We find that Greek monetary policy in the 1990s was: (i) primarily determined by German/ECB interest rates, though still influenced by domestic fundamentals; (ii) involving non-linear output gap effects; (iii) subject to a deficit of credibility culminating in the 1998 devaluation. On the question of compatibility our findings depend on the value assumed for the equilibrium post-euro real interest rate and overall indicate both a reduction in the pre-euro risk premium and some degree of monetary policy incompatibility. Our analysis has policy implications for the new EU members and motivates further research on fast-growing EMU economies.     

泰勒规则及其在中国货币政策中的检验

本文运用历史分析法和反应函数法首次将中国货币政策运用于检验泰勒规则。通过计算中国货币政策中利率的泰勒规则值 ,并与其实际值进行比较表明 ,泰勒规则可以很好地衡量中国货币政策 ,利率规则值与实际值的偏离之处恰恰是政策操作滞后于经济形势发展之时。这表明泰勒规则能够为中国货币政策提供一个参照尺度 ,衡量货币政策的松紧。对中国货币政策的反应函数GMM估计表明 ,通胀率对利率的调整系数小于 1 ,这是一种不稳定的货币政策规则 ,在这一制度下 ,通货膨胀或通货紧缩的产生和发展有着自我实现机制。     

通货膨胀目标区与非线性泰勒法则

本文采用STR、TV-STR模型,利用1991年1月至2010年3月的月度数据分析了我国货币政策反应函数,与现有中国货币政策反应函数的文献相比主要有以下几个结论:第一,我国货币政策反应函数存在着结构变化,先是在1997年11月突变,然后存在一个渐变过程.第二,1997年11月前后相应存在着两个通货膨胀目标区,分别为[14.109,16.123]和[0.985,2.902],且后一通货膨胀目标区要比前一通货膨胀目标区合理.第三,随着时间推移,我国货币政策反应函数的产出缺口反应系数,逐渐由负转正,利率平滑系数则逐渐变小,这反应了随着我国利率市场化的推进,我国的货币政策操作开始越来越多的使用利率这一价格工具.     

低利率时期的货币政策效果——台湾地区及日本经验

日本央行在最近一波的景气衰退中被指为货币政策操作不佳,因其似乎只专注降低利率而忽视其它传递管道.货币政策在景气差的低利率时期是否能有效果是本文所要探讨的.台湾地区货币主管部门在上一波不景气中也不断以调降利率作为因应,因此本文利用VAR(向量自我回归)模型分别针对台湾地区及日本这两段经济不景气的低利率时期进行讨论分析.根据冲击反应分析显示,不论是台湾地区或日本在观察样本期间都得到货币政策无效的结论,其中台湾地区可能存在"投资陷阱";日本则发现存在"流动性陷阱".     

The relationship between exchange rates and interest rates in a small open emerging economy: The case of Romania

This paper revisits the relationship between interest rates and exchange rates in a small open emerging economy using wavelet-based methodologies. Based on data for Romania, our results confirm the theoretical predictions on the interest rate - exchange rate relationship during turmoil or policy changes. In the short term, the relationship is negative, confirming the sticky-price models, and over the long term, the relationship is positive, confirming the Purchasing Power Parity theory. At the beginning of the turmoil, the exchange rate movements generally take the lead over the interest rates for the first month, but the monetary authorities take the lead afterwards. Our results reveal that in a small open emerging economy with a direct inflation targeting monetary policy regime, the relationship between exchange rates and interest rate is fundamentally different from that in an advanced economy. Also, our results stress the necessity that the central bank must pay simultaneous attention to both variables in order to achieve their monetary policy targets.     

Monetary transmission with multiple policy rates: evidence from Turkey

Quantitative easing policies have led to persistent divergence between officially announced policy rates and short-term money market rates in many economies, making it challenging to assess the stance of monetary policy in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Lack of data variation in short-term interest rates across time dimension has made it difficult to identify the monetary transmission mechanisms. In order to shed some light on this topic, we make advantage of a specific period from Turkey during which the central bank deliberately allowed the policy rates to diverge frequently from the interbank rates due to capital flow management purposes. Using bank-level flow data from this episode, we investigate the relationship between various short-term interest rate measures and bank loan/deposit rates through panel estimation methods. Our findings suggest that interbank rates are more relevant than central bank’s officially announced rates for the transmission of monetary policy when the two diverge from each other persistently. Interbank rates particularly play a key role in the pricing of loans and deposits. These findings provide helpful guidance for evaluating the monetary stance under unconventional policies.     

货币政策工具与中介目标选择:基于法定准备金操作的研究

利率和货币量哪个更适合作为货币政策中介目标是一个很有争议的问题,目前许多文献对这个问题的研究并不涉及货币政策工具与利率以及货币量之间的关系。这样的研究实际上隐含了一个前提,即货币政策工具和利率以及货币量之间存在明确的、稳定的关系,从而保证利率目标或者货币量是可控的。基于法定准备金操作的研究表明,法定准备金操作和货币量之间存在确定的关系,而和利率之间的关系是不确定的。导致利率和法定准备金操作关系不确定的主要原因,则是IS曲线斜率正负性的不确定性;同时,对现阶段中国IS曲线斜率稳定性的实证研究表明,其斜率正负性是不稳定的。因此,利率不适合作为货币政策中介目标。     

基于标准泰勒规则的我国货币市场利率偏离估算

本文利用泰勒规则方法对我国货币市场利率偏离程度进行了估算。对我国货币政策反应函数的经验分析表明,我国货币政策并不符合稳定货币政策规则要求。标准泰勒规则具有良好的稳健性。根据泰勒规则原式及稳定货币政策规则最低条件计算结果表明,我国货币市场利率长期存在负的利率缺口,货币政策对通胀和产出缺口并不是稳定的,更不是最优的,货币政策存在着长期偏误。这对进一步理解我国的通货膨胀和宏观经济波动,合理评价货币政策,提供了新的视角。     

How does credit supply respond to monetary policy and bank minimum capital requirements?

We use data on UK banks׳ minimum capital requirements to study the interaction of monetary policy and capital requirement regulation. UK banks were subject to both time-varying capital requirements and changes in interest rate policy. Tightening of either capital requirements or monetary policy reduces the supply of lending. Lending by large banks reacts substantially to capital requirement changes, but not to monetary policy changes. Lending by small banks reacts to both. There is little evidence of interaction between these two policy instruments. The differences in the responses of small and large banks identify important distributional consequences within the financial system of these two policy instruments. Finally, our findings do not corroborate theoretical models that raise concerns about complex interactions between monetary policy and macro-prudential variation in capital requirements.     

Monetary policy: Why money matters (and interest rates don’t)

Since the late 1980s the Fed has implemented monetary policy by adjusting its target for the overnight federal funds rate. Money’s role in monetary policy has been tertiary, at best. Indeed, several influential economists suggest that money is irrelevant for monetary policy because central banks affect economic activity and inflation by (i) controlling a very short-term nominal interest rate and (ii) influencing financial market participants’ expectation of the future policy rate. I offer an alternative perspective: Money is essential for monetary policy because it is essential for controlling the price level, and the monetary authority’s ability to control interest rates is greatly exaggerated.     

Cross‐country asymmetries in monetary policy transmission: evidence from EMU members

This paper analyzes monetary policy asymmetries in EMU participating countries. In particular, we use a structural dynamic modelling approach to investigate asymmetric monetary transmission in Europe. Asymmetries are investigated in two different ways. First, we restrict the estimated structural models reflecting the monetary constraints each country faced during the EMS period. We obtain well‐behaved and comparable effects of monetary policy shocks. Second, efficiency frontiers for the selected EMU countries are estimated. In computing the optimal combinations of output gap and inflation volatility we use a weighted average of interest rate and exchange rate, i.e. the Monetary Condition Index (MCI), as a policy instrument. The impulse response analysis implemented with the MCI shows relatively small differences in the responses of the real economy to monetary policy shocks. Altogether the results suggest that, no matter which policy instrument is used, output gap and inflation respond to identical monetary shocks with a similar speed and movement, albeit with a different degree of effect.     

How useful is the concept of the natural real rate of interest for monetary policy?

The natural rate of interest plays a key role in Wicksell's‘cumulative process’ as well as in modern monetaryequilibrium models of the business cycle. It constitutes a usefulconcept for the theoretical analysis of the interdependenceof monetary policy and economic fluctuations. However, the usefulnessof this concept for the practice of monetary policy is limited—especiallyowing to the fact that the natural real rate of interest andits law of motion cannot be measured with satisfying precision.     

The cost of capital,asset prices,and the effects of monetary policy

The primary objective of this paper is to study the interaction between monetary policy, asset prices, and the cost of capital. In particular, we explore this issue in a setting where individuals face idiosyncratic risk. Incomplete information also provides a transactions role for money so that monetary policy can be studied. In contrast to standard monetary growth models which focus on the transmission of monetary policy to the demand for capital goods, we incorporate a separate capital goods sector so that the supply response to monetary policy is taken into account. Consequently, in contrast to the standard monetary growth model, monetary policy plays an important role in investment activity through the relative price of capital goods. Moreover, different sources of productivity can affect the degree of risk sharing. Although the optimal money growth rate falls in response to an increase in productivity in either sector of the economy, monetary policy should react more aggressively to the level of productivity in the capital sector.