On the Importance of Sectoral and Regional Shocks for Price‐Setting

We use novel disaggregate sectoral‐regional euro‐area data to investigate the sources of price changes, introducing a new method to extract factors from overlapping data blocks that allows for estimation of aggregate, sectoral, country‐specific and regional components of price changes. Our sectoral component explains much less variation in disaggregate inflation rates and exhibits much less volatility and more persistence than previous findings for the US indicate. Country‐ and region‐specific factors play an important role, emphasizing heterogeneity of inflation dynamics along both sectoral and geographical dimensions. Our results are incompatible with basic sticky‐information or Calvo‐type price‐setting models, but require multi‐sector, multi‐country models. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymmetric Quantile Persistence and Predictability: the Case of US Inflation

This article investigates the evidence of time‐variation and asymmetry in the persistence of US inflation. We compare the out‐of‐sample performance of different forecasting models and find that quantile forecasts from an Auto‐Regressive (AR) model with level‐dependent volatility are at least as accurate as the forecasts of the Quantile Auto‐Regressive model, in particular for the core inflation measures. Our results indicate that the persistence of core inflation has been relatively constant and high, but it declined for the headline inflation measures. We also find that the asymmetric persistence of inflation shocks can be mostly attributed to the positive relation between inflation level and its volatility.     

Selecting structural innovations in DSGE models

Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models are typically estimated assuming the existence of certain structural shocks that drive macroeconomic fluctuations. We analyze the consequences of estimating shocks that are “nonexistent” and propose a method to select the economic shocks driving macroeconomic uncertainty. Forcing these nonexisting shocks in estimation produces a downward bias in the estimated internal persistence of the model. We show how these distortions can be reduced by using priors for standard deviations whose support includes zero. The method allows us to accurately select shocks and estimate model parameters with high precision. We revisit the empirical evidence on an industry standard medium‐scale DSGE model and find that government and price markup shocks are innovations that do not generate statistically significant dynamics.     

Disaster risk and preference shifts in a New Keynesian model

In RBC models, disaster risk shocks reproduce countercyclical risk premia but generate an increase in consumption along the recession and asset price fall, through their effects on agents’ preferences (Gourio, 2012). This paper offers a solution to this puzzle by developing a New Keynesian model with such a small but time-varying probability of “disaster”. We show that price stickiness, combined with an EIS smaller than unity, restores procyclical consumption and wages, while preserving countercyclical risk premia, in response to disaster risk shocks. The mechanism then provides a rationale for discount factor first- and second-moment (“uncertainty”) shocks.     

Monetary policy,housing rents,and inflation dynamics

In this paper we study the effect of monetary policy shocks on housing rents. Our main finding is that, in contrast to house prices, housing rents increase in response to contractionary monetary policy shocks. We also find that, after a contractionary monetary policy shock, rental vacancies and the homeownership rate decline. This combination of results suggests that monetary policy may affect housing tenure decisions (own versus rent). In addition, we show that, with the exception of the shelter component, all other main components of the consumer price index (CPI) either decline in response to a contractionary monetary policy shock or are not responsive. These findings motivated us to study the statistical properties of alternative measures of inflation that exclude the shelter component. We find that measures of inflation that exclude shelter have most of the statistical properties of the widely used measures of inflation, such as the CPI and the price index for personal consumption expenditures, but have higher standard deviations and react more to monetary policy shocks. Finally, we show that the response of housing rents accounts for a large proportion of the “price puzzle” found in the literature.     

Another look at sticky prices and output persistence

Price rigidity is the key mechanism for propagating business cycles in traditional Keynesian theory. Yet the new Keynesian literature has failed to show that sticky prices by themselves can effectively propagate business cycles. We show that price rigidity in fact can (by itself) give rise to a strong propagation mechanism in standard models, provided that investment is also subject to a cash-in-advance constraint. Reasonable price stickiness can generate highly persistent, hump-shaped movements in output under either monetary or non-monetary shocks. Hence, whether or not price rigidity is responsible for output persistence is not a theoretical question, but an empirical one.     

Exchange Rates and Prices: Sources of Sterling Real Exchange Rate Fluctuations 1973–94

We attempt to identify the sources of UK exchange rate and relative consumer price fluctuations by applying the Clarida and Gali (1994) extension of the Blanchard and Quah (1989) structural VAR method to UK data. We (r)nd that IS shocks underlay the majority of the variance of sterling real and nominal exchange rates. Aggregate supply (AS) shocks were the second most important source of such variations, while LM shocks played an extremely limited role. In contrast, the variance of UK relative consumer prices primarily reflected LM shocks.     

Fractional integration in daily stock market indices at Jordan's Amman stock exchange

Using daily data on five sectoral indices from 2006 to 2014, this paper aims to investigate the possibility of fractional integration in sectoral returns (and their volatility measures) at Jordan's Amman stock exchange (ASE). Empirical analysis, using the log-periodogram (LP) and local whittle (LW) based semi-parametric fractional differencing techniques suggest that all sectoral returns at ASE exhibit short memory. However, in the case of volatility measures, we found evidence of long memory. Following the recent literature that argues that structural breaks in a time series could also explain the presence of long memory, we tested the volatility measures for the presence of structural breaks. We found that long memory in some volatility measures could be attributed to the presence of structural breaks. Furthermore, using impulse response functions (IRF) based on ARFIMA, we found that shocks to sectoral returns at ASE exhibit short run persistence, whereas shocks to volatility measures display long run persistence.     

Price/Wage Staggering and Persistence: A Unifying Framework

Abstract.  In this paper, we provide a general unified framework to clarify the issue of persistence of real effects of money shocks in staggered wage/price models. We mainly aim to: (i) highlight which features of the underlying economy, and particularly of the labour market, are crucial for generating output persistence; (ii) analyse the differences between price and wage staggering.     

Asymmetry in the effects of us government spending shocks: evidence and implications

Using quarterly data for the United States, the evidence differentiates the effects of expansionary and contractionary shocks to government spending around an anticipated steady-state trend over time. While interest rates increase in the face of expansionary government spending shocks, there is no evidence of a reduction in the face of contractionary shocks. Consequently, the increased government spending crowds out private investment. Moreover, there is evidence of a reduction in private consumption as agents anticipate a future increase in taxes to finance the increased government spending. As a result, output growth and price inflation are decreasing despite expansionary government spending shocks, on average, over time. In view of this evidence, public finance considerations ought to dominate attempts to stimulate demand using government spending near full-equilibrium capacity utilization in the economy. In contrast, contractionary government spending shocks are not offset by an increase in private spending. Hence, demand contraction is pronounced, slowing output growth and price inflation in the face of a reduction in government spending. The implication is that concerns over the pronounced contractionary effects of a reduction in government spending ought to dominate public finance considerations near full-equilibrium.     

中国核心通货膨胀的估计

准确地测度通货膨胀是认识一般价格水平的变化状况和制定反通货膨胀政策措施的基础。然而,现在被广泛用来测度通货膨胀的RPI或CPI及其对它的改进与通货膨胀的经济内容不一致。这就使得在这些方法下测度的通货膨胀不可能准确地反映实际通货膨胀的状况。于是,本文依据货币数量论提出了一种利用长期识别限制的结构性向量自回归模型来测度核心通货膨胀的新方法。在这个方法里,核心通货膨胀被定义为货币冲击引起的一般价格水平的变化。从向量自回归模型中识别出来的货币冲击和一般价格水平对货币冲击的反应函数被用来构造RPI或CPI变化率由货币冲击引起的成分,这样测度的核心通货膨胀与货币主义理论下通货膨胀的经济内容完全一致。用这种方法估计1954-2002年间中国核心通货膨胀过程中所提供的经济证据表明,我们对核心通货膨胀的定义和估计方法看起来非常合理。而且,测度的结果还能够帮助我们认识我国历史上每一次通货膨胀和通货紧缩的形成机制。     

The effects of oil price shocks on inflation in the G7 countries

This study examines the effects of three types of oil price shocks on inflation in the G7 countries with a new method of isolating oil price shocks. Based on monthly data from January 1997 to January 2019, we find that each oil price shock has the largest effect on U.S. inflation among the G7 countries and each country’s response to oil price shocks is different. Moreover, a rolling-window analysis shows that supply shocks, demand shocks and risk shocks have dynamic effects on inflation. The effect of supply shocks on inflation is strong before the financial crisis, but weakens during the crisis. However, the effect of demand shocks increases sharply in this time. The effect of risk shocks mainly occurs during the financial crisis and the European debt crisis. In addition, this study uses two ways to verify the robustness of the results. Our empirical results have important implications for policymakers and manufacturers, since the results provide a good explanation for the response of inflation in the G7 countries to the oil price shocks from different sources.     

Sectoral Shocks and Metropolitan Employment Growth

In this paper, we study the sources of industry employment growth in each of five metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). The objective is to understand the relative importance of aggregate disturbances versus local sectoral shocks in generating observed employment fluctuations at the MSA level. The empirical evidence presented in this paper derives from structural vector autoregressions (SVARs), estimated for each of the five MSAs. Estimations use monthly employment data covering nine one-digit industrial categories for the period 1951:1–1999:8, as well as two variables that capture the influences of aggregate (i.e., national) shocks on MSAs. We find that within-MSA industry shocks explain considerably more of the forecast error variance in industry employment growth than do aggregate shocks. Sectoral shocks account for between 87 and 94% of the 36-month-ahead forecast error variance. Among individual local sectors, shocks to MSA-specific government, manufacturing, and service sector employment growth are the predominate sources of variability.     

Modelling Inflation Volatility

This paper discusses estimation of US inflation volatility using time‐varying parameter models, in particular whether it should be modelled as a stationary or random walk stochastic process. Specifying inflation volatility as an unbounded process, as implied by the random walk, conflicts with priors beliefs, yet a stationary process cannot capture the low‐frequency behaviour commonly observed in estimates of volatility. We therefore propose an alternative model with a change‐point process in the volatility that allows for switches between stationary models to capture changes in the level and dynamics over the past 40 years. To accommodate the stationarity restriction, we develop a new representation that is equivalent to our model but is computationally more efficient. All models produce effectively identical estimates of volatility, but the change‐point model provides more information on the level and persistence of volatility and the probabilities of changes. For example, we find a few well‐defined switches in the volatility process and, interestingly, these switches line up well with economic slowdowns or changes of the Federal Reserve Chair. Moreover, a decomposition of inflation shocks into permanent and transitory components shows that a spike in volatility in the late 2000s was entirely on the transitory side and characterized by a rise above its long‐run mean level during a period of higher persistence. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Forecasting macroeconomic variables using disaggregate survey data

We construct factor models based on disaggregate survey data for forecasting national aggregate macroeconomic variables. Our methodology applies regional and sectoral factor models to Norges Bank’s regional survey and to the Swedish Business Tendency Survey. The analysis identifies which of the pieces of information extracted from the individual regions in Norges Bank’s survey and the sectors for the two surveys perform particularly well at forecasting different variables at various horizons. The results show that several factor models beat an autoregressive benchmark in forecasting inflation and the unemployment rate. However, the factor models are most successful at forecasting GDP growth. Forecast combinations using the past performances of regional and sectoral factor models yield the most accurate forecasts in the majority of the cases.     

Interpreting shocks to the relative price of investment with a two-sector model

Consumption and investment comove over the business cycle in response to shocks that permanently move the price of investment. The interpretation of these shocks has relied on standard one-sector models or on models with two or more sectors that can be aggregated. We show that the same interpretation can also be motivated with a model that captures key features of the US Input–Output Tables and cannot be aggregated into a standard one-sector model. Our alternative model yields a closer match to the empirical evidence of positive comovement for consumption and investment subject shocks that permanently move the price of investment.     

Sectoral sources of metropolitan growth

The paper proposes a method for identifying sectoral sources of metropolitan employment growth The key feature of the VAR is the set of (over)identifying restrictions which do not require a causal ordering to be developed among industries to create orthogonal sectoral shocks. The simulations for four cities indicate that local sectoral shocks are more important than national counterparts, and that among local shocks, the overall evidence indicates that manufacturing, service and public sector employment shocks account for a substantial portion of employment growth variation, a conclusion that seems roughly consistent with export-oriented models of metropolitan growth.     

Large time‐varying parameter VARs: A nonparametric approach

In this paper we introduce a nonparametric estimation method for a large Vector Autoregression (VAR) with time‐varying parameters. The estimators and their asymptotic distributions are available in closed form. This makes the method computationally efficient and capable of handling information sets as large as those typically handled by factor models and Factor Augmented VARs. When applied to the problem of forecasting key macroeconomic variables, the method outperforms constant parameter benchmarks and compares well with large (parametric) Bayesian VARs with time‐varying parameters. The tool can also be used for structural analysis. As an example, we study the time‐varying effects of oil price shocks on sectoral U.S. industrial output. According to our results, the increased role of global demand in shaping oil price fluctuations largely explains the diminished recessionary effects of global energy price increases.     

The New Keynesian Phillips Curve and staggered price and wage determination in a model with firm-specific labor

We develop a DSGE model with firm-specific labor where wage and price setting are subject to Calvo-type staggering. This is in general an intractable problem due to complicated intertemporal dependencies between price and wage decisions. However, the problem is significantly simplified if we, in line with empirical evidence, assume that prices can be changed whenever wages are. We show that the price- and wage-setting relationships are substantially altered by the introduction of firm-specific labor. Specifically, the inflation response is substantially dampened, whereas the wage inflation response is increased as compared to models with freely mobile labor. These distinctive features of the model with firm-specific labor are supported by empirical evidence from a structural VAR.     

A monetary business cycle model with unemployment

To reproduce key features of the post-war U.S. data, most monetary business cycle models must assume there are high price markups and that agents have high labour supply elasticities despite the existence of contradictory microeconomic evidence. This paper eliminates the need for these assumptions by introducing imperfectly observed effort into a limited participation model. The estimated model is better able to capture the sluggish price response to a monetary policy shock than the standard model, and is consistent with evidence regarding the qualitative responses of the U.S. economy to technology shocks, fiscal policy shocks and monetary policy shocks.