Economic Freedom and Unemployment around the World

Using data from 87 countries and the years 1980-2003, this paper empirically analyzes whether and to what extent economic freedom affects unemployment. According to the regression results, economic freedom is likely to substantially reduce unemployment, especially among women and young people. A small government sector and a legal system characterized by an independent judiciary, impartial courts, and an effective protection of property rights most clearly seem to have beneficial effects. In addition, there are indications that freedom to trade across national boundaries and a light regulatory burden may also lower unemployment, though apparently in the long term only.     

“三元悖论”与人民币汇率制度选择

“三元悖论”从宏观上揭示货币政策独立性、汇率稳定、资本自由流动三大金融目标之间的相互制衡关系, 是汇率制度选择问题的一个基本理论分析工具。我国现行的汇率制度实质上是钉住美元的固定汇率制,在金融进一步开放的背景下,其弊端日益凸现,改革现行的汇率制度势在必行。我国现实经济条件决定了我国汇率制度改革的近期目标只能是建立汇率目标区,长期目标则是建立浮动汇率制。     

Managing in the Middle: Characterizing Singapore's Exchange Rate Policy*

It is by now common knowledge that there can be a significant divergence in the de facto versus de jure exchange rate regimes operated by economies. Although much of the recent published literature in Asia has focused on the crisis-hit economies, Korea and Thailand in particular, scant attention has been paid to Singapore, which officially targets its nominal effective exchange rate (around a band). The present paper examines the degree of exchange rate intervention for Singapore using various methods of assessing de facto exchange rate regimes. In the main, we show that although the Singapore dollar is primarily influenced by the US dollar, in keeping with its de jure classification of a basket pegged regime, other major currencies, such as the yen and the euro, also impact the Singapore dollar. There is also evidence to indicate that Singapore uses the nominal effective exchange rate strategically as a policy instrument to satisfy domestic inflation objectives.     

Pricing to Market： Chinese Export Pricing to the USA after the Peg

In July 2005, the Chinese Government unpegged the RMB from the US dollar. As the RMB has followed a remarkably predictable appreciation over time, I examine the price of Chinese exports to the USA after unpegging the exchange rate. Results suggest that the Chinese industries with greater import market share were able to raise their prices after the removal of the pegged exchange rate regime; however, over time there is a significant deflationary trend. Chinese export prices tended to decrease under an unanticipated RMB appreciation; this effect was more pronounced for industries with more pricing flexibility. This suggests that Chinese exporters are consistently ＂pricing to market＂ and thus creating a significant foreign exchange policy implication. Specifically, a more flexible exchange rate regime will likely have little impact on the prices of Chinese exports to the USA but might increase the profit volatility of Chinese firms.     

汇率制度是否影响失业率?——基于全球经济体的面板数据之经验分析

论文使用172个经济体在1991-2010年间的面板数据,研究了汇率制度对于失业率的影响。研究发现,在其他条件保持不变时,相对于中间汇率制而言,在发达经济体中,浮动汇率制会降低失业率,而钉住汇率制则会提高失业率;在新兴市场经济体中,浮动汇率制会提高失业率,而钉住汇率制则会降低失业率;在不包括新兴市场外的发展中经济体中,中间汇率制下的失业率最低,而钉住汇率制下的失业率最高。     

The effects of EMU on euro area unemployment

The author analyzes the likely impact of EMU and the associated changes in the monetary, economic, and institutional environment on European labor markets in an open economy model. He shows that in this model, the formation of a monetary union (MU) has no effect on unemployment if the participating countries were part of a fixed exchange rate regime before entering the MU and if the monetary policy of the common central bank resembles that of the former anchor bank. In addition, he discusses various cases in which this conclusion does not hold and where one can expect an impact of EMU on structural unemployment.     

Monetary policy responses of Asian countries to spillovers from US monetary policy

Regional integration in Asia has been considerably enhanced over the past 20 years or so. Whether integration helps Asian countries reduce their vulnerability to external shocks or is a channel for spreading external shocks remains an open question. This paper assesses the spillovers from US monetary policy shocks to Asian countries while taking into account country‐specific characteristics in explaining differences in timing and magnitude of responses across Asian countries. The results indicate that policy interest rates in Asian countries generally respond to innovations in the Fed rate in the same direction, but typically with a lag of one quarter. However, the size of the responses varies across Asian countries with respect to country‐specific characteristics. These results suggest that an independent monetary policy may not be feasible for an Asian developing country that adopts a pegged rate regime while being extensively integrated into the world economy. However, the hypothesis of the impossible trinity may not be relevant in the case of China.     

Macroeconomic policy, wage setting, and employment - what difference does the EMU make?

The likely impact of the EMU on the variability and level ofemployment is analysed. The major conclusions are as follows.(i) Although an inflation-target regime will constrain monetarypolicy of a non-participant in the EMU, it still leaves considerablescope for exchange-rate changes in the case of country-specificdemand shocks, provided that there is some nominal price andwage flexibility. (ii) Variations in payroll taxes can be usedas a substitute for exchange-rate changes in the EMU, but itwill be an imperfect substitute. (iii) Money-wage flexibilityis likely to be larger inside than outside the EMU, but probablynot by much. (iv) There are various mechanisms through whichthe EMU may affect the incentives for labour-market reform toreduce equilibrium unemployment, but the net impact is highlyuncertain.     

Short and Long Effects of Productivity on Unemployment

Okun’s (1962) seminal paper is an important study on economic growth and unemployment but a detailed exploration of the effect of productivity growth on unemployment has been left aside. Yet, the relationship between productivity growth and unemployment has been debated since long. In this paper we present stylized facts on the link between productivity growth and unemployment for the short and long run, and present model variants that demonstrate that in the short run productivity growth may increase unemployment while in the long run the relationship between productivity growth and unemployment are likely to co-vary negatively. Using US data, empirically we decompose the time series of unemployment rate and productivity growth into long run and short run components and show empirical evidence that the long run and short run components co-vary as predicted by some theories.     

The optimal exchange rate regime for a small country

This paper examines the welfare comparisons between a freely floating, a managed floating, and a pegged exchange rate regime. We compare the expected loss under these regimes by modifying and generalizing Hamada’s (2002) model to accommodate intervention policy. We consider the de jure and de facto classifications, where the former is defined by the officially stated intentions of the monetary authorities, while the latter is based on the actually observed behavior of the nominal exchange rate. We first examine the exchange rate regimes from the central bank’s policy stance and the actual exchange rate policy. Next we assume that the regime which the private sector perceives according to an official announcement may be different from the one adopted actually by the central bank. We examine nine combinations of the de jure and de facto regimes. We interpret that, whenever they are different, there is informational friction between the central bank and the private sector. We show that the welfare level of a small country under freely floating is no less than that under other regimes, and that with some restrictive conditions, the de facto pegged or de facto managed floating is close to freely floating. This partly explains “Fear of floating” and “Fear of pegging”.     

从变迁历史看人民币汇率制度改革新思路

本文介绍了人民币汇率制度的变迁历程,主要包括改革开放前的起步阶段、可调整固定汇率钉住制、钉住货币篮子和改革开放后的汇率双轨制及两种不同的有管理的浮动汇率制度。通过对历史上汇率制度的探讨和我国现状的分析,笔者认为我国汇率制度的改革应沿着"有管理的浮动汇率制—爬行钉住制—浮动汇率制"这条道路稳步发展,随着人民币汇率波动的逐步加大,人民币汇率制度最终过渡到浮动汇率制度。     

Rebalancing and the Chinese VAT: Some numerical simulation results

This paper presents numerical simulation results that suggest that China can both reduce its trade imbalance and receive welfare benefits by switching the value added tax (VAT) regime from the current destination principle to an origin principle. We modify the traditional general equilibrium tax model to capture endogenous trade imbalances along with endogenous factor supply, a fixed exchange rate and a non-accommodative monetary policy structure which supports the Chinese trade imbalance. We calibrate model parameters to 2008 data and simulate counterfactual equilibrium for VAT tax basis switches in which the trade imbalance changes. Our results suggest that given China's trade surplus VAT regime switching to an origin basis can decrease China's trade surplus by over 40%, and additionally increase Chinese and world welfare. This has implications for present G20 discussions on finding ways to adjust global trade imbalances.     

A role model for China? Exchange rate flexibility and monetary policy in Japan

A substantial number of papers have proposed to allow for more exchange rate flexibility of the Chinese yuan. But few papers have tried to project how Chinese monetary policy will behave under flexible exchange rates. As Japan provides an important role model for China, this paper studies the role of the yen/dollar exchange rate for Japanese monetary policy after the shift of Japan from a fixed to a floating exchange rate regime. In contrast to prior studies, we allow for regime shifts in the impact of the exchange rate on monetary policy. The results show that the exchange rate had a substantial impact on Japanese monetary policy in periods of appreciation. This implies that repeated attempts to soften the appreciation pressure by interest rate cuts have led Japan into the liquidity trap. The economic policy conclusion for China is to keep the exchange rate pegged (to the dollar).     

Exchange-Rate Regimes,Political Parties and the Inflation-Unemployment Tradeoff: Evidence from Greece

We use Greek data during 1960–1994 to test and estimate a model in which wage inflation, price inflation and unemployment depend on the exchange rate regime, the identity of the political party in power and whether an election is expected to take place. We respect the Lucas critique and take into account the statistical properties of the data. The main results are: (i) The exchange rate regime matters for inflation. After the fall of the Bretton Woods regime in 1972, there is a Barro-Gordon type inflation bias due to the inability of all policymakers to precommit to low inflation. (ii) There are no Barro-Gordon type partisan differences in inflation or unemployment.     

Renminbi Exchange Rate: Peg to A Wide Band Currency Basket

Persistent renminbi (RMB) devaluation expectations are one of the greatest threats to China's macroeconomic stability. Market interventions backed by huge foreign exchange reserves and capital controls are not sufficient to eliminate the expectations of devaluation. Creating a market‐based and flexible RMB exchange rate regime holds the key to the elimination of devaluation expectations. The present paper compares the pros and cons of several policy options, and proposes to introduce, as a transition to free floating, a new exchange rate regime pegged to a currency basket with a wide band. The new regime should be able to give the RMB exchange rate enough flexibility to eliminate devaluation expectations as well as prevent excessive overshooting. To ensure a smooth transition, the new regime needs to be supported by controlling cross‐border capital flows.     

Hot Money Inflows and Renminbi Revaluation Pressure

Despite a series of revaluations, which started in July 2005, hot money has been sporadically sneaking into China in anticipation of further revaluations of the renminbi. In this paper we build a monetary model to show how anticipated revaluations lead to the instability of a pegged exchange rate regime. This model assumes current account convertibility and some degree of capital control, and fundamentally sound domestic policies and economy, as is the case in China. The model demonstrates that market-oriented interest rates can act as an automatic stabilizer to ease revaluation pressures, but cannot resolve them completely because the nominal interest rate has a zero nominal bound. Therefore, the official parity is difficult to defend and the revaluation expectations can be self-fulfilling, in the absence of external intervention. The empirical results of Granger causality tests are consistent with the main findings of our theoretical model. There are a number of policy intervention measures that can extend the life of a pegged exchange rate regime.     

Monetary discipline and inflation in developing countries: the role of the exchange rate regime

Adherence to a pegged exchange rate regime has the potentialto affect inflation in two ways: by instilling monetary disciplineand by altering the relationship between money and prices, becauseshocks to the money stock are absorbed partly by changes inthe balance of payments. Although the latter is a disequilibriumphenomenon (if balance of payments deficits are unsustainablein the long run), it might still be important in the mediumterm. Evidence on the relative importance and magnitude of thetwo effects is presented, using cross-sectional macroeconomicdata from 80 LDCs. Both effects are found to be significant.     

Prison Industries and the private sector

In 1979, Congress passed the Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) Act to promote private production within prisons. As of June 1994, 31 states had instituted PIE projects. Using a public choice model, this paper attempts to explain the likelihood that a stat ewould choose to participate in PIE. Using logistic regression, the study finds that states with stronger unions, democratic governors, and high unemployment will be less likely to allow PIE projects. Alternatively, states that exhibit a progressive prison management will be more likely to allow PIE projects.     

Racial differences in the feminization of poverty

The feminization of poverty refers to female householders and their children becoming an increasing percentage of the poor population. After examining effects of race on poverty of female-headed households from 1959 to 1989, this study investigates statistical relationships among female poverty, economic and labor market conditions, and transfer payments (specifically AFDC) by means of the Granger causality test over the period from 1966 to 1988. This study reinforces the plausible assumption that policies which would lower the unemployment rate of females and would increase real economic growth could be expected to reduce the number of poor female households.     

Labour market dimensions of poverty in Indonesia

This paper focuses on labour market issues relevant to poverty alleviation. Patterns of participation, unemployment and employment are examined among the poor compared with the non-poor in general, among urban and rural households, and among various socio-demographic groups. Using data from the 2002 National Socio-Economic Survey, the paper finds that low participation in the workforce and high unemployment, while important, are less closely related to poverty status than expected, especially among spouses of household heads. However, sector of employment and underemployment are closely associated with poverty, especially for those in informal jobs in urban areas; in rural areas, the poor are heavily concentrated in agriculture. Among the poor, young people and females are more likely to be underemployed and to work in agriculture than prime-age workers. The data suggest that labour market policies that tend to protect those in formal sector employment are unlikely to reduce poverty much, if at all.