Wage inflation and labour conflicts in the Netherlands : An empirical investigation using the co-integration approach

The ‘wage space’, which is defined as the sum of price inflation and labour productivity growth, has played a major role as an indicator of allowable wage increases in the post-war wage negotiations in the Netherlands. This paper shows that: (a) wages and the wage space are co-integrated; (b) the deviation between wages and the wage space may act as an error correction term in the wage equation when both variables are identified as I(2); and (c) political consensus and the threat of labour conflicts (rather than actual strike activity) may be identified as the ‘mechanism’ behind this error correction in the wage equation.     

The application of nonparametric tests to poverty targeting

Many otherwise successful social programs have limited outreach among the very poor. We show how a recently developed nonparametric test can detect this pattern of program participation. We apply the test to data on participation in a microcredit program in India and do find participation increasing in income among the poorest households in the region.     

Asymmetric causality tests with an application

This article argues that there are several logical reasons for the existence of asymmetric causal effects that need to be taken into account but usually are neglected in the literature. It suggests allowing for asymmetry in the causality testing by using the cumulative sums of positive and negative shocks. A bootstrap simulation approach with leverage adjustment is used to generate critical values that are robust to non-normality and time-varying volatility. An application to the efficient market hypothesis in the UAE is provided. The results show that the equity market is informationally efficient with regard to the oil shocks regardless if these shocks are positive or negative.     

Monetary policy transmission mechanisms in Serbia: evidence from the fully-fledged inflation targeting regime

This article examines the effectiveness of monetary transmission mechanisms in the Serbian economy, covering the period from January 2009 (the point at which the formal switch to the fully-fledged inflation targeting regime was made) to December 2013. The results of the recursive VAR models suggest that the exchange rate and credit channels play a major role in the monetary transmission process, whereas this is not true in the case of the interest rate channel. However, the results of the non-recursive VAR models show that the role of the exchange rate has diminished over time. On the other hand, the credit channel has become much more influential. Thus, if one of the overriding objectives of adopting the explicit inflation targeting regime is to enhance the importance of other channels apart from the exchange rate channel, which could make monetary policy more effective in achieving price and financial stability, the switch to the inflation targeting regime is justified.     

Consumption,co-integration and varying coefficients: the Australian evidence

An aggregate consumption function incorporating random coefficient approach is estimated to investigate the changing pattern of consumer response in Austrialia using quarterly data from 1959: IV to 1990: IV. The methdology applied is that of Hidreth and Houck (1968), Singh et al. (1976) and Hoque (1991). The largenge multiplier test, as suggested by Breush and Pagan (1979), supports the hypothesis of randomness in the response coefficients. Our Study indicates strong dependence on the first-difference of income and that consumers respond quite slowly to short-run fluctuations. This is because consumption and income have been found to be integrated of order one and co-integrated. Thus, as error correction model has been estimated following Engle and Granger (1987).     

Monetary shocks,exchange rates and trade balances: Evidence from inflation targeting countries

This paper investigates the relationship among monetary policy shocks, exchange rates and trade balances in five Inflation Targeting Countries (ITCs). The investigation is based on Structural Vector Error Correction Models (SVECMs) with long run and short run restrictions. The findings reveal that a contractionary monetary policy shock leads to a decrease in price level, a decrease in output, an appreciation in exchange rate, and an improvement in trade balance in the very short run. Our findings contradict the findings of price, output, exchange rate and trade puzzles that have been found in many empirical studies. Furthermore they are consistent with the theoretical expectations regarding the effect of a contractionary policy. The only long run restriction that we imposed on our models is that money does not affect real macroeconomic variables in the long run, which is consistent with both Keynesian and monetarist approaches.     

中国货币政策评价:一个分析框架

1994年,中国人民银行开始把基础货币和货币供应量作为监测目标,确定了三个层次的货币供应量指标,并按季度向社会公布执行情况。1998年取消了对国有商业银行多年来的贷款规模控制,央行宏观调控转为主要调控货币供应量,并灵活运用利率、再贴现、公开市场操作等间接货币政策工具。     

Sectoral exports dynamics of Turkey: a panel co-integration analysis

This paper analyzes the role of unit labor costs and individual cost components in determining sectoral export dynamics and the change in the impact of these costs after the sequence of structural reforms in Turkey as of 2001. It employs a multivariate panel co-integration technique across 17 Turkish manufacturing sectors at different time periods. Results suggest that average elasticity changes not only between the time periods but also across the sectors. Cross-sectional elasticity differences are mostly attributable to the sectoral competitiveness and factor intensities.     

Monetary policy synchronization in the ASEAN-5 region: an exchange rate perspective

In light of the long-standing vision of economic and monetary integration in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region and the importance of coordinating monetary policies to achieve it, the objective of this article is to assess the monetary policy synchronization among the founding members of the ASEAN, that is, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Due to the importance of exchange rate movements to monetary policies, we approach this issue from a currency exchange rate perspective. Specifically, multivariate trend–cycle decomposition is employed to investigate common trends and common cycles among the exchange rates of these countries during the period 1976–2012. Our analysis reveals that the real exchange rates of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand share common cycles in the short term and have common trends in the long term, but the Indonesian currency does not share these relationships. Thus, our results augur well for the synchronization of monetary policies among Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. In contrast, the relatively turbulent dynamics of the Indonesian rupiah evident in frequent bouts of stark depreciation separated by periods of steady depreciation over the past three decades raise questions regarding the readiness of Indonesia for participating in a monetary alliance with the ASEAN-4 nations.     

日元与人民币:区域内货币合作抑或货币竞争

针对日元与人民币的关系问题,笔者研究发现:(1)日元与人民币现阶段都无法成为区域内锚货币,两者尚未具备区域内货币竞争的条件;(2)中日两国产业结构差异和贸易互补性使得两国货币竞争没有必要;(3)货币危机和中日双边贸易发展内在地推动两国加强区域内货币合作;(4)日本对华贸易与人民币汇率之间没有长期稳定的协整关系.据此,仅从经济和金融角度考虑,推进日元与人民币区域内货币合作而非货币竞争对中日双方都是有利的.     

Monetary union in Latin America: an assessment in the context of optimum currency area

The article applies the optimum currency area (OCA) theory to Latin America to assess the potential of a monetary union in Latin America and in its major existing regional trade agreements (RTAs). According to OCA criteria we find that Latin America is far from being an optimum currency area, as its countries’ exposure to asymmetric shocks is high and their capacities to adjust in response to macroeconomic disturbances are limited. Using a panel of 20 Latin American countries from 1990 to 2014, we apply the dynamic OLS estimation techniques to estimate the costs and benefits of a potential monetary union in Latin America and in its various RTAs. to estimate the costs and benefits of a potential monetary union in Latin America and in its various RTAs. We find that the costs are high, because Latin America’s economies are vulnerable to severe macroeconomic disturbances and its RTAs differ significantly in their response to negative demand shocks. Most of the monetary efficiency gains are shown to be the result of a common restrictive monetary policy which would result in higher FDI inflows and, to a more limited extent, increased GDP, both overall and per capita. Although Central American countries are shown to be most suitable for further monetary integration, we conclude that Latin American countries should head first towards greater economic and political integration.     

Monetary policy and transmission mechanism in Brazil: an empirical model

We propose an econometric model for the transmission mechanism in Brazil after the inflation target regime (IT) implementation. We follow the statistical approach based on the LSE methodology by means of the Spanos (J Econom 44:87–105, 1990) categorization. Our proposed model includes the ratios of the debt and primary surplus to the GDP representing the government fiscal effort. We identify two long run relationships that produce new information on how to evaluate the real interest rate and the nominal interest rate links, respectively, with the output gap and the nominal inflation derived from the IS and the interest rule theoretical models. Such specification explores the role played by fiscal variables in monetary transmission; considering the government fiscal effort, a relevant issue for Brazil. We were also able to identify a third long run relationship that might help to uncover how output gap is related not only with nominal variables but also with the debt to the GDP ratio.     

Monetary and banking policy transmission through interest rates: an empirical application to the USA,Canada, the UK and the Eurozone

The main purpose of this paper is an examination of the pass‐through interest rate transmission from the wholesale rates (central bank and/or money market rates) to the retail rates (deposit and lending rates) of the banking system. Knowledge of the transmission substantially helps us to calculate the pass‐through interest rate margin or mark‐up in the banking systems under examination (USA, Canada, the UK and the Eurozone). The selection of the wholesale interest rate is also an important part of this pass‐through transmission framework because it is related to the money supply process and therefore the central bank's policy capabilities. In the empirical part, a Johansen (1988) cointegration based error‐correction procedure (ECM‐GE) is implemented for the wholesale interest rate selection. Then an LSE–Hendry general‐to‐specific model (GETS) is applied, for the revelation of the banking sector pass‐through interest rate behaviour. In the empirical part, on the issue of the wholesale interest rate selection, the USA and the Eurozone seem to favour the Money Market rate while the UK and Canada favour the central bank policy rate. The results indicate two types of interest rate pass‐through behaviour, with market structure implication – namely, the US and UK banking systems contrasted with Canada–Eurozone.     

Monetary policies to counter the zero interest rate: an overview of research

Many central banks have lowered their interest rates close to zero in response to the crisis since 2008. In standard monetary models the zero lower bound (ZLB) constraint implies the existence of a second steady state in addition to the inflation-targeting steady state. Large scale asset purchases (APP) have been used as a tool for easing of monetary policy in the ZLB regime. I provide a theoretical discussion of these issues using a stylized general equilibrium model in a global nonlinear setting. I also review briefly the empirical literature about effects of APP’s.     

The missing link: an evaluation of the utilization of the monitor studies in the Netherlands

This article presents the results of an investigation that has been conducted at the Eindhoven Univenig of technology. Investigated is whether Monitor studies (second framework programme of the European Commission) are utilized in the Netherlands. For this purpose, potential users have been interviewed and Monitor studies have been analyzed. The results of this investigation point out that Monitor studies are poorly used in the Netherlands. The reasons for this relate to the tuning (both content and form) of the Monitor studies with respect to the needs of the potential users and the dissemination of the research results. To improve the utilization of European policy research, more attention should be paid to the needs of potential users and to the dissemination and exploitation of the research results in the Netherlands.     

Determining the environmental effects of indirect subsidies: integrated method and application to the Netherlands

The term ‘environmentally damaging subsidies’ covers all sorts of direct and indirect subsidies with negative consequences for the environment. This article presents a method to determine the environmental impact of these subsidies. It combines a microeconomic framework with an environmental impact module. The method is particularly useful for analysing indirect subsidies. These are often hidden, and therefore, not recognized as subsidies. Use of the method will provide a basis for formulating corrective policy. The method is applied to several important subsidies in the Netherlands, in agriculture, energy and transport sectors. The results reveal large environmental effects, which deserve serious attention from policy makers. To illustrate the specific features of the method, its application to a particular subsidy, namely the exemption of excise taxes on aviation fuels, is presented in full detail.     

扩张性货币政策批判:货币政策传导机制的无效性

西方经济学所说货币政策传导机制,包括利率渠道、资产价格渠道即利率渠道基础上的投资效应和财富效应、信贷渠道、汇率渠道等,在积极的或扩张性货币政策方面都是难以奏效的。扩张性货币政策的短期效果也难以证实,而且推动通胀、加剧过剩、浪费资源、加剧分化,损害长远经济发展,在长期中是负效应而不是中性。正确的货币政策原则只能是适应性的。