Volatility transmission along the money market yield curve

Volatility Transmission along the Money Market Yield Curve. - The authors model the volatility of money market interest rates — and the transmission of volatility - along the money market yield curve in the UK, Germany, France and Spain. They find a significant volatility transmission from overnight to longer-term money market rates in France, Spain and the U.K. They also find that the countries with lower (higher) reserve requirements tend to have higher (lower) interbank interest rate volatility. However, reserve requirements generate a perverse seasonal effect at the end of the maintenance period.     

The response of long-term interest rates to news about monetary policy actions: Empirical evidence for the U.S. and Germany

The Response of Long-Term Interest Rates to News about Monetary Policy Actions. Empirical Evidence for the U.S. and Germany. — The authors reestimate the expectations theory of the term structure focusing on the question of how monetary policy actions indicated by changes in the very short rate affect long-term interest rates. Their main point is that the expectations hypothesis implies that very long rates should only react to unanticipated changes of the very short rate. In contrast to cointegration tests of expectations theory, this implication only requires rational expectations but not stationary risk premia. Therefore, its empirical test sheds new light on the importance of expectations theory for the determinants of the term structure of interest rates.     

Testing for parameter stability in DSGE models. The cases of France,Germany, Italy,and Spain

We estimate a New Keynesian DSGE model on French, German, Italian, and Spanish data. The main aim of this paper is to check for the respective sets of parameters that are stable over time, making use of the ESS procedure (“Estimate of Set of Stable parameters”) developed by Inoue and Rossi (Rev Econ Stat 93(4):1186–1204, 2011). This new econometric technique allows to address the stability properties of each single parameter in a DSGE model separately. In the case of France, Germany, and Italy our results point to structural breaks after the beginning of the second stage of EMU in the mid-nineties, while the estimates for Spain show a significant break just before the start of the third stage in 1998. Specifically, there are significant changes in monetary policy behavior for France, Italy, and Spain, while monetary policy in Germany seems to be stable over time.     

Eastern Germany and the conflict between wage adjustment,investment, and employment: A numerical analysis

Eastern Germany and the Conflict between Wage Adjustment, Investment, and Employment: A Numerical Analysis. — In this paper, some light is shed on the dynamics of the adjustment process in eastern Germany by studying the linkages between the dynamics of wage adjustment, investment, and employment. An extended dynamic investment model, which includes adjustment costs for capital and revision costs for investment, is presented. This model is specified according to the east German economy and analyzed numerically by an optimization method based on direct collocation. Results are obtained for the time horizon of adjustment and for the implications of different wage strategies on the path of investment and employment.     

The stability of money demand in Germany and in the EMS: Impact of German unification

The Stability of Narrow Money Demand in Germany and Aggregate Money Demand in the EMS: Impact of German Unification. —This paper shows that the German monetary union not only had an impact on the stability of the narrow money demand in Germany but also on the stability of the aggregate demand for money in two larger European currency areas, consisting of three and seven EMS countries. However, the impact was only of a temporary nature. The empirical results show that the close link between real money, output, and the interest rate still exists. In a European Monetary Union, narrow money thus remains a potential candidate as an indicator and/or intermediate target for the European Central Bank.     

The linkage of interest rates within the EMS

The Linkage of Interest Rates within the EMS. — The paper explores the linkage between interest rates in Germany and the United States with those on other currencies within the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) of the European Monetary System. Monthly data on money market interest rates and rolling window cointegration techniques are used. The principal findings are that during the early part of the sample period (1979–1995), there is widespread cointegration between both US and German interest rates and those on other currencies in the ERM; but during the later part of the sample, this “worldwide” linkage disintegrates, cointegration between German and other ERM interest rates strengthening whilst that with the US disappears.     

Real Interest Rate and Labor Market Performance around the World

This article studies the effects of the real interest rate on labor market performance. Using a much larger sample of countries and more indicators of labor market performance than have been used in previous articles, it finds that a rise in the real interest rate increases the unemployment rate, raises the share of long‐term unemployed, and reduces the employment rate. The magnitude of these effects is very small in the short run but much more pronounced—though still fairly small—in the long run. Young people are disproportionately affected. The results are robust to variations in specification.     

Intra-industry trade in the 1980s: A panel study

Intra-Industry Trade in the 1980s: A Panel Study. — This paper uses a panel data set to estimate the determinants of intra-industry trade in the 1980s. The data for trade covers 68 ISIC industries for the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK and Italy from 1980 to 1987. UK data is used to measure industry characteristics. The results support, in particular, the positive effects of R&;D intensity and heterogeneity on intra-industry trade and the negative effects of scale and concentration. While fixed effects estimation indicates that industry characteristics explain most of the variation in intra-industry trade, differences in industry characteristics or in their effects vary significantly across countries.     

The leading indicator property of the term spread and the monetary policy factors in Japan

Many studies have observed the leading indicator property of the term spread (LIPTS), which indicates that the term spread—the difference between long- and short-term interest rates—has information on future economic conditions. We examine whether this property is related to monetary policy or not by using Japanese monthly data with consideration for structural changes. Results of structural change tests show that the term spread has predictive ability for the future economic activity from 1982:4 to 1997:8. Decomposing the term spread into three parts; one is explained by past monetary policy shocks, another is explained by expected future call rates and the other is the remaining part, we find that all three parts are significantly related to the future economic growth rate. Hence, we find that the monetary policy plays an important role for the LIPTS.     

A cross-country comparison of the demand for labour in Europe

A Cross-Country Comparison of the Demand for Labour in Europe.-This paper investigates structural differences in the demand for labour in France, Germany, and the UK. It finds substantial differences in the sensitivity of the demand for labour to international product demand and factor prices in all three countries. In particular, it reacts to domestic factor prices in Germany but international cost competitiveness in France and the UK; it depends upon European-wide product demand in France and Germany and a wider measure of product demand in the UK. The authors attribute these differences to product market conditions and institutional factors rather than to differences in the production technology.     

Forecasting inflation from the term structure

In this paper the authors analyze the forecasting ability of the term structure with respect to future inflation in Germany. In contrast to previous studies, they find evidence in favor of a nonstationary term premium. Assuming that the nonstationary part of the term premium can be approximated by an observable factor, they derive testable restrictions which cannot be rejected for German data. In an out-of-sample forecasting experiment, the model out-performs rival models which assume a constant term premium. Nevertheless, the authors find that the forecasting ability of the term structure is limited while the real interest rate, is revealed as a good predictor for future inflation rates. JEL no. E31, E37, E43.     

Forecasting French and German long-term rates using a rational expectations model

Forecasting French and German Long-Term Rates Using a Rational Expectations Model. — In this paper, the authors study a forecasting model for long-term rates based on the expectations hypothesis of the term structure. The long-term rate is expressed as an average of expected short-term rates, which are modelled using three models: two univariate models (with stationary and nonstationary rates) and one model in which the short-term rate terminal boundary is specified as a function of agents’ expectations. These approaches are used to forecast French and German long-term rates from 1960 to 1996. The authors find that the model based on agents’ expectations gives the best forecasts, especially for short horizons.     

European Business Fluctuations in the Austrian Framework

The Austrian theory mainly deals with analyzing the effects of an increased credit offer on productive structures. In this respect, we propose to link long-term growth cycles to various short-term interest rate gaps. Are European Business Cycles affected when a fall in the money market rate disrupts agents’ expectations of inflation? Using the hypothesis that individual speculation is motivated by the difference between short-term real interest rates and their natural levels, we argue that Wicksellian interest rate gaps can account for a high proportion of long-term fluctuations in four European countries (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain). We present specific dating methods and filters used in order to distinguish between short-term and long-term growth cycles. The Wicksellian incentives we constructed are then significantly linked to long-term business fluctuations. Under the hypothesis of adaptive expectations of inflation, our results are enhanced.     

Real business cycles in an open economy: An application to Germany

Real Business Cycles in an Open Economy: An Application to Germany. — This paper discusses a stochastic, dynamic-optimizing model of an open economy. It is closely related to small open economy models, but differs by introducing an upward-sloping supply curve of foreign bonds. The model is calibrated to match the long-run features of Germany. The simulations show that the model is consistent with the observed regularities of German business fluctuations.     

NO‐ARBITRAGE ONE‐FACTOR MODELS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN TERM STRUCTURE OF INTEREST RATES

Short‐term interest rate processes determine the term structure of interest rates in an arbitrage‐free market and are central to the valuation of interest rate derivatives. We obtain parameter estimates and compare the empirical fit of alternative one‐factor continuous‐time processes for the South African short‐term interest rate (and hence of arbitrage‐free term structure models) using Gaussian estimation methods. We find support only for diffusions where the interest rate volatility is moderately sensitive to the level of the interest rate. Other common models with restrictions that either preclude this effect, or restrict it to be too high, do not fit the data. Differences in the specification of the drift function have no evident effect on model performance.     

Does Terrorism Affect the Stock‐Bond Covariance? Evidence from European Countries

Using daily stock and bond returns data from four European countries—France, Germany, Spain, and Great Britain—that have been the victims of significant terrorist activity, this study addresses the issue of whether transnational and/or domestic terrorist attacks have affected in any significant manner the time‐varying stock–bond covariance, their returns, and their variances. Stock and bond markets can be influenced and determined not only by the usual array of macroeconomic factors but also by security shocks, such as a terrorist incident, that have the potential to affect investors' sentiment and portfolio allocation decisions. The issue at hand is addressed using a VAR(p)‐GARCH(1,1)‐in‐mean model, and the results reported herein indicate that terrorist attacks trigger a flight‐to‐safety effect primarily in France and Germany and to a smaller degree in Great Britain and Spain.     

Financial innovation and the long-run demand for money in the United Kingdom and in West-Germany

Financial Innovation and the Long-Run Demand for Money in the United Kingdom and in West Germany. — This paper uses a cointegration model to compare the long-run demand for broad money in the UK and (West) Germany during the period 1963Q1–1990Q2. In the long-run demand function for Germany, real M3 is determined in classical manner by real income and a single opportunity cost variable. By contrast, the UK demand function requires in addition an explicit own rate on money as well as a risk variable. The income elasticity is also very high. These differences reflect the more rapid pace of financial innovation in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.     

New Evidence on Export Price Elasticity from China and Six OECD Countries

This paper provides new evidence on export price elasticities by analyzing the cases of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the USA over the period 1990–2012. Estimates have been made using panel data techniques for non‐stationary data. After demonstrating that long‐run relationships are stable to any structural break, it is found that exports are significantly determined by foreign demand, with long‐run income elasticity significantly higher than unity for China, Japan, Germany, the UK and the USA. Conversely, exports are price inelastic for most of the countries in the sample, in both the long run and the short run. The exception is France, whose export price elasticity is lower (higher) than unity in the short run (long run).     

A BVAR MODEL FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMY

The paper develops a Bayesian vector autoregressive (BVAR) model of the South African economy for the period of 1970:1‐2000:4 and forecasts GDP, consumption, investment, short‐term and long term interest rates, and the CPI. We find that a tight prior produces relatively more accurate forecasts than a loose one. The out‐of‐sample‐forecast accuracy resulting from the BVAR model is compared with the same generated from the univariate and unrestricted VAR models. The BVAR model is found to produce the most accurate out of sample forecasts. The same is also capable of correctly predicting the direction of change in the chosen macroeconomic indicators.     

Learning about fundamentals: The widening of the French ERM bands in 1993

Learning about Fundamentals: The Widening of the French ERM Bands in 1993. — The authors incorporate a Bayesian learning model into a fairly general model of exchange rate determination in discrete time. The model is applied to the period following the widening of the French-German ERM bands in August 1993, in which a systematic underprediction of the franc can be observed until February 1994. A (substantial) part of these forecast errors can be mimicked by a Bayesian learning process. Simulations with our model show that, after the widening of the bands, agents, contrary to their initial expectations, gradually learned that the true process driving monetary conditions in France had not changed notably.