Macro policy in the tropics: How sensible people stand

A model for macro policy analysis is set out, incorporating an inflation theory based on distributional conflict, output and current account adjustment mechanisms, and the money market. Classic structuralist results about contractionary devaluation and stagflationary monetary restriction are derived. Alternative closures of the model are considered — monetarism and external strangulation (or foreign exchange bonanzas) — and it is extended to deal with interest rate reform. Short-term stabilization issues are analyzed — monetary and fiscal policy, import quotas and export subsidies as opposed to devaluation, financial market complications, food subsidies and public sector pricing, and orthodox and heterodox anti-inflationary programs. Finally, medium-term processes of inflation, distribution and growth are described. An example of an irreversible contractionary shock which leads the economy from a distributionally favorable to an unfavorable steady state is presented.     

Optimal Monetary Policy in China

Using the structural vector autoregression model, we estimate the current responses of monetary policy to contemporaneous shocks from macroeconomic variables. Our findings indicate that the People's Bank of China responded to inflation and output changes, but did not react to asset price fluctuations during the period from January 1997 to March 2010. The optimal monetary responses to exogenous shocks are also examined. It is revealed that using asset prices to formulate monetary policy would not help to improve monetary authorities' performance in lowering the volatilities of output growth and inflation while keeping output growth and inflation in their safety zones. The effectiveness of monetary policy and fiscal policy in reacting to external shocks is also discussed.     

Inflationary shocks and real output growth in nine Muslim-majority countries: Implications for Islamic banking and finance

Low and stable inflation is important for maintaining the viability of Islamic banking and finance within a dual banking system. Inflationary shocks when transmitted to real output growth cause a shift of investment to fixed return products as a hedge against the uncertainty of returns on equity investment under Islamic profit-loss sharing contracts. This study examines the transmission of inflationary shocks to the real economy for nine Muslim-majority countries (Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey) that have introduced Islamic banking, all except Iran within dual-banking systems. A structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) framework is deployed to understand macroeconomic relationships using annual data from the late 1970s to 2014. The key finding is that inflationary shocks affect real interest and exchange rates which in turn impact real output growth. The paper argues that the absorption of inflationary shocks in real interest and exchange rates is the outcome of rigidities in nominal interest and exchange rates within repressed financial systems. Policy regimes that allow for greater adjustment in nominal interest and exchange rates under a deregulated financial system would offer better shock absorption capacity which would lead to less volatility in inflation, real interest and exchange rates, and real output growth. The resulting more stable macroeconomic environment would be more conducive to the development of an Islamic financial sector that would promote economic growth.     

Commodity Prices, Inflationary Pressures, and Monetary Policy: Evidence from BRICS Economies

We assess the transmission of monetary policy and the impact of fluctuations in commodity prices on the real economy for the five biggest and fastest growing emerging market economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). Using modern econometric techniques, we show that a monetary policy contraction has a negative effect on output, suggesting that it can lean against unexpected macroeconomic shocks even when the financial markets are not well-developed in this group of countries. We also uncover the importance of commodity price shocks, which lead to a rise in inflation and demand an aggressive behaviour from central banks towards inflation stabilisation.     

中国宏观经济走势、潜在风险与政策选择

中国经济复苏强劲,但宏观运行也积累了不少风险,这包括:通货膨胀风险;资产价格上涨过快风险;潜在财政风险以及政策退出导致的不确定性风险。面对潜在风险,适当的政策选择是:以政策退出应对短期宏观波动风险,以结构调整化解中长期发展风险。     

The Non-Monetary Side of the Global Disinflation

The dramatic decline in inflation across the world over the last 20 years has been largely credited to improved monetary policy. The universal nature of the phenomenon, however, indicates that globalization, which occurred simultaneously, also played a role. We build a model based on Melitz (2003) in which falling transport cost lead to greater openness, higher productivity and lower inflation. Following a decline in transport cost openness increases and firm selection eliminates the least productive domestic firms. The consequent increase in average productivity leads to falling relative prices for goods. A cash-in-advance constraint allows analyzing how falling relative prices can lead to lower inflation. Using a data set of macroeconomic variables for 123 countries from all world regions, we disentangle the influences of monetary policy and globalization by showing that openness-induced productivity growth leads to a significant decline in inflation world-wide. The results can be further confirmed in a calibration exercise.     

Surfing the waves of globalization: Asia and financial globalization in the context of the trilemma

Using the “trilemma indexes” developed by Aizenman et al. (2010) that measure the extent of achievement in each of the three policy goals in the trilemma—monetary independence, exchange rate stability, and financial openness—we examine how policy configurations affect macroeconomic performances, with focus on the Asian economies. We find that the three policy choices matter for output volatility and the medium-term level of inflation. Greater monetary independence is associated with lower output volatility while greater exchange rate stability implies greater output volatility, which can be mitigated if a country holds international reserves (IR) at a level higher than a threshold (about 20% of GDP). Greater monetary autonomy is associated with a higher level of inflation while greater exchange rate stability and greater financial openness could lower the inflation rate. We find that trilemma policy configurations affect output volatility through the investment or trade channel depending on the openness of the economies. Our results indicate that policy makers in a more open economy would prefer pursuing greater exchange rate stability while holding a massive amount of IR. Asian emerging market economies are found to be equipped with macroeconomic policy configurations that help the economies to dampen the volatility of the real exchange rate. These economies’ sizeable amount of IR holding appears to enhance the stabilizing effect of the trilemma policy choices, and this may help explain the recent phenomenal buildup of IR in the region.     

Stabilization, adjustment, and the poor

This paper attempts to survey the recent literature on the impact of stabilization and adjustment programs upon the poor and to consider some of the key issues in the context of a particular equity-oriented low-income country. Tanzania. After looking at some of the approaches of earlier studies, this paper analyzes the effects of restructuring policies, macroeconomic restraint, and strategic policy change. The author then reviews available evidence on the recent experience of Tanzania with external shock, efforts at stabilization, and relations with the IMF.In conclusion, the author argues that in order to better understand their impact on poverty we need more detailed analyses of specific countries' experience with different kinds of macroeconomic imbalance and different short- to medium-term policy responses. However, he does indicate with some certainty that when equivalent external blows impact upon very low-income countries, there must be a presumption that, other things being equal (including the distribution of income), the proportion of households and people pushed over the line into “absolute poverty” will be greater than in middle-income countries. The international community should provide external finance to aid these low-income countries in limiting the negative impact on the poorest.     

The liquidity effect in a flexible-price monetary model

This paper examines the impact of macroeconomic policy shocksin a flexible-price dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE)model with money. Rather than adopting a money supply rule,monetary policy is modelled as a central bank using a simpleinterest rate rule (Taylor rule). Without assuming price stickinessor frictions in financial markets, this model is found to accountfor liquidity effects, generate higher persistence in outputand inflation, and capture the positive unconditional cross-correlationsrelating inflation and output.     

Macroeconomic effects of financial stress and the role of monetary policy: a VAR analysis for the euro area

This paper analyses an otherwise standard macro-financial VAR model for the euro area that includes - apart from conventional measures of output, inflation and monetary policy - a composite indicator of systemic financial stress, namely the CISS index, and total assets of the ECB balance sheet capturing the stance of unconventional monetary policy. I find that the CISS contributes significantly to the dynamics of the macroeconomy and exerts a strong influence on monetary policy when looking at both policy rates and the ECB balance sheet. The significance of the CISS appears robust to the inclusion of a broad set of real and financial control variables. Based on tests of direct versus indirect (Granger-)causality patterns proposed in Hsiao (1982), I also find that unlike unconventional policy as measured by ECB balance sheet growth, the policy rate does not seem to react directly to variations in financial stress but rather indirectly through the impact of financial stress on macroeconomic conditions. These different patterns of reaction are broadly consistent with the ECB’s “separation principle”. The estimated effects of the ECB’s standard and non-standard policy measures on inflation and economic growth are moderate, although an easier stance in both policy tools helps calm down financial stress.     

The impact of structural adjustment on housing prices in China

Studies of the factors that influence housing prices have focused on housing characteristics, governmental policies, environmental goods, macroeconomic and social fundamentals, and so on. However, the effect of industrial structural adjustment on housing prices is worthy of further investigation. In China, it would be helpful to measure this effect to coordinate housing policy and the ‘Made in China 2025’ strategy, which aims to accelerate industrial restructuring. We selected a spatial panel data model to quantify the effects of the industrial rationalisation and sophistication attributable to spatial dependence in housing prices. Estimation results show that structural adjustment has a statistically significant effect on housing prices that varies widely across regions. In descending order, the impact of industrial structure sophistication decreases in eastern, central, western, and northeastern China. This finding suggests that the government should match housing with local industry, prevent excessive real estate development in conventional agricultural areas, and pay close attention to changes in housing prices caused by increasing industrial restructuring.     

The Impact of Inflation Uncertainty on Output Growth and Inflation in Thailand*

We explore the impact of inflation uncertainty on output growth in Thailand, an emerging market economy with moderate inflation. Inflation and output uncertainty are modeled in a bivariate constant conditional correlation generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (AR(p)‐cccGARCH(1,1)) specification. We include the exchange rate in the mean equations, and use the headline and core inflation rates and industrial production to generate inflation and output uncertainty series. These series are then used in Granger causality tests to make inferences about the effect of monetary policy‐induced inflation uncertainty. Causality tests show a positive relation from inflation to inflation uncertainty. Additionally, increased inflation uncertainty decreases output. These results are consistent with real costs associated with moderate inflation. Finally, we find no evidence that monetary policy reduced these costs.     

The macroeconomic effects of monetary policy: Evidence from Japan

This study examines the macroeconomic effects of monetary policy in Japan. We apply the new identification strategy proposed by Bu et al. (2021) to the Japanese case and estimate monetary policy shocks that bridge periods of conventional and unconventional monetary policymaking. We show the macroeconomic effects of monetary policy; a contractionary monetary policy shock significantly decreases output and inflation rates even under the effective lower bound. However, because the shorter-term and longer-term nominal interest rates are already close to zero, the magnitude of monetary policy shocks on the macroeconomic variables is modest.     

The Chinese Phillips curve – inflation dynamics in the presence of structural change

This paper models inflation dynamics in China from 1987 to 2014 using a Phillips curve framework. The Phillips curve is generally estimated under the assumption of linearity and parameter constancy. The existence of structural breaks in China’s inflation dynamics make standard linear models inappropriate tools for analysis however. Our results find that the Chinese Phillips curve is characterised by a non-linear relationship. The inflation/output relationship takes the form of a concave curve. This suggests that changes in the level of output effect inflation in China more strongly in periods when output is operating below its potential but the relationship is weaker when output is operating at or above potential. Based on these findings, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) could consider output cost and policy response on a case-by-case basis depending on the level of output in relation to potential.     

公众预期、通胀成因与经济波动牵扯

针对金融危机冲击下各国宏观经济政策所导致的新的世界经济波动,结合中国当前通货膨胀两难局面,运用古典模型中的二分法解构中国通货膨胀,得出名义变量引致了通胀的结论,并将古典增长模型与利率平滑规则有机结合,推断出现阶段通胀背景下仍应坚持适度从紧的货币政策规则,引导公众心理形成稳定的期望收入预期,才能真正意义上在稳定通胀的同时,形成社会理性消费预期,从而使扩大内需成为可能,这才是解决现阶段增长困境所在。     

Determinants of inflation in India

The paper attempts to identify the determinants of inflation in India in a multivariate econometric framework using quarterly data from Q1: 1996–1997 to Q3: 2013–2014. The identified determinants of domestic inflation such as crude oil prices, output gap, fiscal policy and monetary policy, and their relation with inflation is studied in a structural vector auto regression (SVAR) model. Further, the temporal changes in inflation dynamics are analyzed using a time varying parameter SVAR model with stochastic volatility. It was found that inflation dynamics in India have changed over time with various determinants showing significant time variation in the recent years, particularly after the global financial crisis.     

Monetary Policy Committee Transparency: Measurement,Determinants, and Economic Effects

This paper studies monetary policy committee transparency (MPCT) based on a new index that measures central bankers’ educational and professional backgrounds as disclosed through central bank websites. Based on a novel cross-sectional data set covering 75 central banks, we investigate the determinants of MPCT as well as its economic consequences. We find that past inflation, institutional indicators, and monetary policy strategy are important determinants of MPCT. MPCT has a robust and significantly negative impact on inflation variability and inflation expectations, even after controlling for important macroeconomic variables and institutional transparency, as well as instrumenting MPCT in various ways. MPCT can be both a complement to and a substitute for institutional transparency.     

On the Sources of Inflation in Kenya: A Model‐Based Approach

We develop a semi‐structural new‐Keynesian open‐economy model – with separate food and non‐food inflation dynamics to study the sources of inflation in Kenya in recent years. To do so, we filter international and Kenyan data (on output, inflation and its components, exchange rates and interest rates) through the model to recover a model‐based decomposition of most variables into trends (or potential values) and temporary movements (or gaps) – including for the international and domestic relative price of food. We use the filtration exercise to recover the sequence of domestic and foreign macroeconomic shocks that account for business cycle dynamics in Kenya over the last few years, with a special emphasis on the various factors (international food prices, monetary policy) driving inflation. We find that while imported food price shocks have been an important source of inflation, both in 2008 and more recently, accommodating monetary policy has also played a role, most notably through its effect on the nominal exchange rate. We also discuss the implications of this exercise for the use of model‐based monetary policy analysis in sub‐Saharan African countries.     

DO INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND PROGRAMS IMPACT ON THE SACRIFICE RATIO?

From time to time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) makes resources available to member states for short‐term balance‐of‐payments support under an agreed arrangement know as a program. Most IMF programs include quantitative performance criteria for key macroeconomic variables, which borrowers must meet to obtain Fund resources. Standard open economy models predict that if policymakers are able to credibly commit to reducing inflation, rational economic agents will lower their expectations of inflation and, therefore, the trade‐off between inflation and output will fall. The present study tests whether IMF programs, by lending credibility to a country's adjustment program, influence the inflation–output trade‐off. The results from the study suggest that IMF programs do not significantly influence the inflation–output trade‐off. This finding is robust to changes in the estimation approach, the method used to obtain the output gap estimates and outliers.     

城镇化、劳动力转移与物价

从城镇化、劳动力转移的角度看,我国物价表现出的食品与住房价格持续上涨的结构性上涨是城镇化和工业化阶段的必然现象,但与各阶层的贫富差距存在很高的相关性,只有倚重财税政策和产业政策影响财富分配和资本、劳动力的产业分配,充分发挥信贷政策的结构调整功能,才能有效地控制物价。