Testing of nonstationary cycles in financial time series data

In this article we propose a method for testing nonstationary cycles in financial time series data. We use a procedure that permits us to test unit root cycles in raw time series. The test has several distinguishing features compared with other procedures. In particular, it has a standard null limit distribution and is the most efficient test when directed against the appropriate (fractional) alternatives. In addition, it allows us to test unit root cycles at each of the frequencies, and, thus, it permits us to approximate the number of periods per cycle. The results, based on the daily structure of Spanish Stock Market prices (IBEX35), show that some intra-year cycles occur, and they take place at approximately 6, 9 or between 24 and 50 periods. The analysis was extended to several other stock market indices of various countries and though the results differ in terms of frequencies, the same conclusions hold, finding evidence of intra-year cyclical effects in all countries. JEL Classification C22; G14.     

Income dispersion and counter-cyclical markups

Recent advances in measuring cyclical changes in the income distribution raise new questions: How might these distributional changes affect the business cycle itself? We show how counter-cyclical income dispersion can generate counter-cyclical markups in the goods market, without any preference shocks or price-setting frictions. In recessions, idiosyncratic labor productivity shocks raise income dispersion, lower the price elasticity of demand, and increase imperfectly competitive firms’ optimal markups. The calibrated model explains not only many cyclical features of markups, but also cyclical and long-run patterns of standard business cycle aggregates.     

计量经济学发展史中的经济周期研究

本文考察了自20世纪50年代以来计量经济学在经济周期研究方面近四十年的发展历程。文章指出,随着时序统计方法的引入和推广,传统的NBER经济周期分析方法与H-CC(Haavelmo-Cowles Commission)方法逐步融合,并成为经济周期研究的主要手段。鉴于计量模型在预测经济衰退时表现仍欠佳,文章对这种融合从方法论上做了批判性的评价。     

我国保险业与经济增长关系的实证研究

为研究保险业和经济增长的关系,选取2001～2011年我国大陆30个省份(不含西藏)保险密度和人均GDP的面板数据,分别进行全国以及区域(东部、中部、西部地区)的保险业和经济增长之间的长期、短期及因果关系检验,分组计算经济增长对保险业发展的贡献度,得出如下结论:全国层面经济增长是保险业发展的重要因素,保险业发展又反过来促进了经济增长;区域层面经济增长和保险业发展之间的关系不一致,保险业发展与经济发展不协调。     

Testing for Bubbles in Housing Markets: A Panel Data Approach

We employ recently developed cross-sectionally robust panel data tests for unit roots and cointegration to find whether house prices reflect house related earnings. We use U.S. data for Metropolitan Statistical Areas, with house price measured by the weighted-repeated-sales index and cash-flows by market tenants’ rents. In our full sample period, an error-correction model is not appropriate, i.e. there is a bubble. We then combine overlapping 10-year periods, price–rent ratios, and the panel data tests to construct a bubble indicator. The indicator is high for the late 1980s, early 1990s and since the late 1990s. Finally, evidence based on panel data Granger causality tests suggests that house price changes are helpful in predicting changes in rents and vice versa. CERGE-EI is a joint workplace of the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education, Charles University, and the Economics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.     

Discussion of “Capital mobility and international sharing of cyclical risk”

This is a comment on “Capital mobility and international sharing of cyclical risk.” The comment focuses on the authors' choice of portfolio adjustment costs in explaining limited international risk sharing. The comment raises two main issues. One is that investors hold large gross positions that vary significantly in value over the business cycle. The second is that it is difficult to identify portfolio adjustment costs from trade costs within the authors' environment.     

Financial distress, bankruptcy law and the business cycle

This paper explores the business cycle implications of financial distress and bankruptcy law. We find that due to the presence of financial imperfections the effect of liquidations on the price of capital goods can generate endogenous fluctuations. We show that a law reform that ‘softens’ bankruptcy law may increase the amplitude of the cycle in the long run. In contrast, a policy of bailing out businesses during the bust or actively managing the interest rate across the cycle could stabilize the economy in the long run. A comprehensive welfare analysis of these policies is provided as well.      

Consumption heterogeneity,employment dynamics and macroeconomic co-movement

Real-business-cycle models rely on total factor productivity (TFP) shocks to explain the observed co-movement among consumption, investment and hours. However an emerging body of evidence identifies “investment shocks” as important drivers of business cycles. This paper shows that a neoclassical model consistent with observed heterogeneity in labor supply and consumption across employed and non-employed can generate co-movement in response non-TFP shocks. Estimation reveals fluctuations in the marginal efficiency of investment that explain the bulk of business-cycle variance in consumption, investment and hours. A corollary of the model׳s empirical success is the labor wedge that is not important at business-cycle frequencies.     

中国宏观经济变量平稳性分析

本文采用目前国际上普遍应用的DF和ADF检验方法，对我国主要宏观经济变量的平稳性及单整阶数进行了单位根检验，研究结果显示中国宏观经济变量在5％显著性水平上都是非平稳的。