THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN CAPITAL ON MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN CENTRAL ASIA

This paper investigates the short‐run impact of shocks in international capital flows channeled through foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign aid on national output and export performance in five Central Asian economies under a dynamic multivariate structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) framework. The identification of structural shocks is implemented by AB model based on IS‐LM‐BP postulates. The main message is that external capital shocks are persistent and small open economies are weak to absorb them. Overall, the aid shocks reduce national outputs, while FDI increase it, on average. The expansion of global demand (G20) leads to an increase in domestic GDPs, notably in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The impact is augmented by a positive effect of FDI on export channel (and net exports) that shift the IS curve upwards. We cannot find any significant aid‐FDI nexus in the region, except in Kazakhstan. The structural variance decomposition (SFEVD) results suggest that external flows and foreign demand together explain the bigger part of variability in domestic GDP and exports. Finally, variations in foreign capital, aid and FDI, are mainly explained by series themselves. The role of domestic activities is found to be weaker for aid and greater for FDI. The results could be attributed to rigid exchange rates, high trade dependence, and necessity for foreign capital to explore natural resources in Central Asian region. Our results provide some valuable suggestions to improve an investment climate for boosting economic growth.     

A 'pricing-to-market' model with unobserved variables: explaining New Zealand's import prices

A model of ‘pricing-to-market’ (PTM) behaviour in import prices is developed for a small open economy to allow for two measurement problems: (i) that neither the marginal production cost of imported goods nor their corresponding (foreign-currency) export price are observable by the econometrician; (ii) that PTM behaviour, if it exists, alters the relationship between foreign countries' export price indices for total exports and the true, unobservable price index. The analysis shows that variations in the measured markup on import prices depends on the degree to which domestic demand is synchronized with world demand, whether bilateral exchange rate movements are due to domestic or foreign factors, and on the degree to which PTM behaviour differs from such behaviour in other countries. Equations estimated for the price of New Zealand (NZ) imports from the US strongly supports the model, and finds that the degree of PTM by US exporters in response to price and exchange rate movements is substantially greater in NZ than the average for other countries. However, the degree of PTM in NZ in response to excess demand is similar to that of other countries.     

Uncertainty and employment dynamics in the euro area and the US

In this paper we investigate the local and foreign effects of uncertainty shocks on unemployment in two large economic regions, the United States (US) and the euro area (EA). We deploy a Bayesian Markov-switching structural vector autoregressive model identified via heteroscedasticity. Two alternative specifications are considered with the shocks of interest being labelled as “US (or EA) demand uncertainty” and “US (or EA) financial market uncertainty”. We reach similar conclusions using both specifications: (i) US shocks have an effect on both the local and foreign labour markets while euro area shocks are much less influential; (ii) the US labour market tends to react and absorb shocks more quickly than the labour market in the euro area does. As economic theory predicts, the reaction to uncertainty shocks points to possible market imperfections that are region specific.     

How productivity and domestic output are related to exports and foreign output in the case of Sweden

In this paper we examine the relationships between two sets of three variables: Swedish real exports, Swedish real GDP, and foreign real GDP in one set; and Swedish real exports, Swedish total factor productivity, and foreign real GDP in the other set. The foreign real GDP facing Sweden is proxied by total OECD real GDP minus Sweden's real GDP. Multivariate tests for integration and cointegration show that the variables in each model are cointegrated. We also perform Granger causality tests on these variables in our examination using the Toda-Yamamoto procedure. We discover bi-directional causality between Swedish real exports and Swedish real GDP (or Swedish total factor productivity). Foreign real GDP is shown to Granger cause Swedish real exports, but no significant causation of foreign real GDP on either domestic GDP or total factor productivity was found. A change in foreign real GDP thus appears to affect Swedish output and productivity only indirectly, through changes in Swedish exports. JEL classification:F41, F43, C30, C32     

Value-Added Erosion in Global Value Chains: An Empirical Assessment

In the period from 1995 to 2008, many countries experienced what we call the “value-added erosion.” It describes the decline in the sectoral shares of domestic value-added in a country’s exports as the country becomes more integrated into the global value chains (GVCs). We argue that the decline of the domestic value-added share in a country’s exports is likely to be caused by the expansion of high value-adding activities performed by foreign lead firms in the upper stream of the GVCs. The variables of interest — the domestic value-added share in exports and foreign high-skill labor embodied in a country’s exports (a proxy for foreign lead firms’ high value-adding activities) — are estimated using a multi-regional global input-output model. Using these results and other control variables, we apply a panel cointegration model to explain and assess the likelihood of value-added erosion and its possible determinants.     

Real Effects of Monetary Policy in New Zealand

This article analyses the dynamic effects of unexpected domestic and foreign monetary policy shocks on industrial output in New Zealand based on a new open economy macroeconomic model. Empirical analyses are performed using unrestricted recursive open economy vector autoregressive models involving policy and non‐policy variables for New Zealand and four of its most important trading partners (that is, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States). The empirical findings are in accord with the qualitative predictions of the conventional monetary transmission mechanism applicable to a small open economy. Consequently, no empirical anomalies are observed in the dynamic behaviour of New Zealand industrial output in response to restrictive monetary innovations of domestic and foreign origin.     

How Much Did Oil Market Developments Contribute to the 2009 Recession in Germany?

In this paper, we use a structural vector autoregressive model to study the effects of oil market developments on the German economy. We find that higher oil prices are always associated with a decline in private consumption expenditures, but the response of gross domestic product (GDP) crucially depends on the underlying shock. While a disruption in oil supply provokes a recession, positive world demand shocks prompt a temporary increase in exports and investment, which initially outweigh the cutback on consumption. In a counterfactual analysis, we show that the world demand shocks that led to the 2007/2008 oil price rise triggered a delayed 0.8 percent decrease in German GDP in 2009, and therefore notably contributed to the recession of that year.     

Models of export instability and empirical tests for less-developed countries

Alternative models are developed in which export earnings instability is generated by domestic supply, domestic demand or foreign demand fluctuations. Their relative merits over the 1957–1972 period are examined through multiple regression analysis for a sample of 50 LDCs, with breakdown into sub-samples based on the type of commodity exported and the nature of foreign markets. The results suggest that export instability originates mainly from foreign sources - especially variations of market shares in foreign markets and commodity groups. However, domestic supply and demand fluctuations are the dominant factors for countries highly-dependent on food exports. Geographic concentration is an important factor for countries dependent on food exports and developed-country markets.     

The effects of foreign shocks when interest rates are at zero

In a two‐country DSGE model, the effects of foreign demand shocks on the home country are greatly amplified if the home economy is constrained by the zero lower bound on policy interest rates. This result applies even to countries that are relatively closed to trade such as the United States. Departing from many of the existing closed‐economy models, the duration of the liquidity trap is determined endogenously. Adverse foreign shocks can extend the duration of the trap, implying more contractionary effects for the home country. The home economy is more vulnerable to adverse foreign shocks if the neutral rate is low—consistent with “secular stagnation”—and trade openness is high.     

Macroeconomic costs to large scale disruptions of food production: The case of foot- and-mouth disease in the United States

We forecast the economic consequences of a widespread contamination of the food system based on a hypothetical outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Since the immediate effect on the livestock sector could affect the entire supply chain and US livestock, meat and dairy exports, we measure these impacts using GTAP, a multi-region, multi-sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the global economy. The immediate “shocks” to the US livestock, raw milk and other animal products sectors indirectly affect all sectors of the economy, as well as international markets and trade. We decompose these effects due to each component of the initial shocks, and estimate the importance of these shocks to the national food system for the Mid-Atlantic Region using IMPLAN. Our GTAP results indicate that losses to the USA economy would be about $11.7 billion, and with the ripple effect throughout the rest of the world including beneficiary nations (Argentina, Brazil, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand) and losers (Canada, Mexico, European Union) would be 14.1 billion. We estimate the proportion of the domestic impact affecting the Mid-Atlantic Region. Based on a regional input–output model of that region, we estimate that total losses in value added are nearly $800 million; losses in labor income total about $565 million; and there are job losses of just over 12 thousand.     

环境立法管制对企业出口国内附加值率的影响

本文通过理论建模和经验数据研究了环境立法管制与中国企业出口国内附加值率之间的关系。结果发现,环境立法管制有助于提升中国企业出口国内附加值率。机制分析证明:一方面,加强环境立法管制的"成本效应"促使直接受约束的企业寻找其他可替代要素。这种替代效应的大小取决于企业对污染型资源的依赖程度。"创新效应"通过改变企业生产效率影响企业成本加成。这两种效应均影响了出口国内附加值率。另一方面,环境立法管制提高了本国企业出口到国外市场的生产率下界,使间接受约束的企业改变定价策略,进而影响出口国内附加值率。本文研究表明,地区严格的执法力度有助于扩大环境立法管制对污染型资源依赖程度较低企业出口国内附加值率的积极影响。     

环境立法管制对企业出口国内附加值率的影响*

本文通过理论建模和经验数据研究了环境立法管制与中国企业出口国内附加值率之间的关系。结果发现,环境立法管制有助于提升中国企业出口国内附加值率。机制分析证明：一方面,加强环境立法管制的“成本效应”促使直接受约束的企业寻找其他可替代要素。这种替代效应的大小取决于企业对污染型资源的依赖程度。“创新效应”通过改变企业生产效率影响企业成本加成。这两种效应均影响了出口国内附加值率。另一方面,环境立法管制提高了本国企业出口到国外市场的生产率下界,使间接受约束的企业改变定价策略,进而影响出口国内附加值率。本文研究表明,地区严格的执法力度有助于扩大环境立法管制对污染型资源依赖程度较低企业出口国内附加值率的积极影响。     

Euro area,oil and global shocks: An empirical model-based analysis

We assess the impact of oil shocks on euro-area (EA) macroeconomic variables by estimating with Bayesian methods a two-country New Keynesian model of EA and rest of the world (RW). Oil price is determined according to supply and demand conditions in the world oil market. We obtain the following results. First, a 10% increase in the international price of oil generates an increase of about 0.1 annualized percentage points in EA consumer price inflation. Second, the same increase in the oil price generates a decrease in EA gross domestic product (GDP) of around 0.1% and a trade deficit, if it is due to negative oil supply or positive oil-specific demand shocks. Third, it generates a mild EA GDP increase and a trade surplus if due to a positive RW aggregate demand shock. Fourth, the increase in the oil price over the 2004–2008 period did not induce stagflationary effects on the EA economy because it was associated with positive RW aggregate demand shocks. The drop in RW aggregate demand contributes to explain the 2008 fall in oil prices, EA GDP and inflation.     

The sovereign spread in Asian emerging economies: The significance of external versus internal factors

This paper investigates the dynamic relations between external factors, domestic macroeconomic factors with sovereign spreads, debt to GDP ratio, etc. in Asian emerging countries. First, we develop a theoretical model that determines the equilibrium debt level, probability of default and sovereign spread and draw empirical implications. We then employ a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model to investigate empirically how the spread of sovereign debt is influenced over time by both external and domestic factors. The empirical results show that variations in sovereign spreads are mainly driven by external shocks, with the term structure of US interest rate and the global risk aversion having the most important role. The findings also indicate that shocks from the US have a direct effect on sovereign spread and an indirect effect via domestic macroeconomic fundamentals. Finally, the evidence produced validates the presence of some response patterns of sovereign spread to the external shocks.     

How do US credit supply shocks propagate internationally? A GVAR approach

We study how US credit supply shocks are transmitted to other economies. We use the recently developed GVAR approach to model financial variables jointly with macroeconomic variables in 33 countries for the period 1983–2009. We experiment with inter-country links based on bilateral trade, portfolio investment, foreign direct investment and banking exposures. Capturing both bilateral trade and financial exposures in a GVAR fits the data better than using trade weights only. We use sign restrictions on the short-run impulse responses in the US model to identify the credit supply shocks. We find that negative credit supply shocks have strong negative effects on US and foreign GDP. Credit and equity markets in several countries respond clearly to the shocks. Exchange rate responses are consistent with a “flight to quality” to the US dollar. The credit supply shocks explain about a fifth of one-year-ahead output forecast error variance in the US and about a tenth in the euro area and the UK, but considerably less elsewhere.     

On the relevance of exports for regional output growth in China

Despite high economic growth during the past decades, China is still vulnerable to shocks arising from industrial states. The advanced economies strongly influence Chinese export performance, with subsequent effects on output growth. Using a production function, this article examines to which extent regional GDP growth in China is export driven. In a panel of 28 Chinese provinces, series are splitted into common and idiosyncratic components, the latter being stationary. The results indicate cointegration between the common components of GDP, the capital stock and exports. In equilibrium, exports increase GDP by more than their impact expected from the national accounts. While exports and capital are weakly exogenous, GDP responds to deviations from the long run. A similar adjustment pattern can be detected for most regions, except for some provinces in the Western part of the country.     

Time-varying U.S. inflation dynamics and the New Keynesian Phillips curve

This paper introduces a form of boundedly-rational inflation expectations in the New Keynesian Phillips curve. The representative agent is assumed to behave as an econometrician, employing a time series model for inflation that allows for both permanent and temporary shocks. The near-unity coefficient on expected inflation in the Phillips curve causes the agent's perception of a unit root in inflation to become close to self-fulfilling. In a “consistent expectations equilibrium,” the value of the Kalman gain parameter in the agent's forecast rule is pinned down using the observed autocorrelation of inflation changes. The forecast errors observed by the agent are close to white noise, making it difficult for the agent to detect a misspecification of the forecast rule. I show that this simple model of inflation expectations can generate time-varying persistence and volatility that is broadly similar to that observed in long-run U.S. data. Model-based values for expected inflation track well with movements in survey-based measures of U.S. expected inflation. In numerical simulations, the model can generate pronounced low-frequency swings in the level of inflation that are driven solely by expectational feedback, not by changes in monetary policy.     

Income and consumption smoothing and welfare gains across Pacific Island Countries: The role of remittances and foreign aid

We examine the potential welfare gains and channels of income smoothing for Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and find that, under full risk sharing overall welfare gains across all PICs (particularly, Kiribati, Palau, and Papua New Guinea) are at desirable levels. However, for Australia, the potential welfare gain from risk sharing is almost similar to the gain it obtains if Australia attains full risk sharing with the rest of the OECD countries or with New Zealand alone. We also break down output using the framework of Sørensen and Yosha (1998) to quantify the extent and channels of risk sharing across PICs. For PICs, income-smoothing channels (net factor income and current transfers) play a significant role in buffering the output shock compared to the performance of those channels on smoothing the output shock for OECD countries. Domestic savings also smooth a fair portion of shocks to output, but the extent is much lower compared to that of OECD countries. Further, we analyze the effect of remittances and foreign aid on income smoothing for the PICs excluding Australia and New Zealand. Income smoothing via remittances is highly volatile and significant in recent years, while foreign aid seems to be a stronger and more stable channel for smoothing domestic output shocks for PICs.     

Exports and growth: Granger causality analysis on OECD countries with a panel data approach

This paper investigates the possibility of Granger causality between the logarithms of real exports and real GDP in twenty-four OECD countries from 1960 to 1997. A new panel data approach is applied which is based on SUR systems and Wald tests with country specific bootstrap critical values. Two different models are used. A bivariate (GDP–exports) model and a trivariate (GDP–exports–openness) model, both without and with a linear time trend. In each case the analysis focusses on direct, one-period-ahead causality between exports and GDP. The results indicate one-way causality from exports to GDP in Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden, one-way causality from GDP to exports in Austria, France, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Norway and Portugal, two-way causality between exports and growth in Canada, Finland and the Netherlands, while in the case of Australia, Korea, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the UK and the USA there is no evidence of causality in either direction.     

The Cyclical Behavior of Net Exports: Temporary and Persistent Movements

This paper explores the empirical relationship of net exports, domestic output, and foreign output. It presents evidence supporting a consumption-smoothing motive for trade in goods. Classical models of the international macroeconomy typically allow for trade in claims on both home and foreign output. This paper lends empirical support to this setup by showing that highly transitory shocks to output cause net exports from the country experiencing the shock to rise. Persistent shocks have opposite effects—a result consistent with the role persistent shocks play in signaling future investment opportunities.