Sovereign debt and the length of economic depressions

We analyze the duration of economic depressions to see if there is an association with consecutive years of high public-debt-to-GDP ratios. We find that there is a positive, non-linear association between the sovereign debt ratio and the length of depressions. Inflation is negatively and linearly correlated with depression duration. These associations are robust to the inclusion of controls for development, but we do detect cross-country heterogeneity in the probability of exit. An analysis of causality finds little evidence that high levels of sovereign debt cause depressions to be longer. Rather, it appears that longer depressions elicit higher debt relative to GDP. Public deleveraging during a depression is not likely, therefore, to help bring it to an end.     

Stock-market crashes and depressions

Stock-market crashes are informative about the prospects for macroeconomic depressions. Long-term data for 30 countries reveal that, conditional on a crash, the probability of a minor depression is 31 percent and of a major depression is 10 percent. The largest depressions are particularly likely to be accompanied by crashes. We allow for flexible timing between crashes and depressions to compute the covariance between stock-returns and an asset-pricing factor, which depends on the decline of consumption during a depression. With a coefficient of relative risk aversion around 3.5, this covariance accounts for the observed average (levered) equity premium of 7 percent.     

外部经济环境与中国出口关系的实证研究——基于面板数据的协整与误差修正模型的检验

我国逐步融入到了经济全球化的进程,尤其是2001年加入世界贸易组织之后,由于我国享受其他世贸组织成员开放或扩大货物、服务市场准入的利益,我国出口发展的步伐更是进一步加快.我国出口增长非常迅速,但我国的出口增长并不稳定.外部经济环境的变化会影响外部需求,外部需求的变化进而会影响我国出口贸易的发展.2008年美国爆发的金融危机导致全球经济萧条,恶化的外部经济环境对我国的出口产生了明显的冲击.本文采用1996-2007年的面板数据对外国经济发展与中国出口的关系进行了协整与误差修正模型的检验.结果表明,无论是在长期还是在短期,中国出口增长都能明显地改善外部经济环境,外部经济环境的改善也能明显地促进我国出口的增长,因此,外部经济环境的变化会影响我国出口稳定增长.     

模仿行为经济学分析——对经济波动的一种新解释

当前 ,世界经济面临衰退的威胁 ,科学解释经济波动具有重大的理论意义和现实意义。RBC理论或方法是当代西方经济学界解释经济波动最具前沿的一种理论或方法 ,也是宏观经济分析的方向。但存在明显缺陷。本文在修正RBC模型的基础上 ,首次建立模仿行为理论模型重新解释经济波动 ,并就中国政府在防止和治理经济波动的作用进行了独特的解释 ,认为政府所起的作用是示范人作用。     

DEBT AND DEPRESSION

We investigate the relationship between public debt ratios and per capita output using episodal data. Episodes of debt and depression occur far more frequently than expected. Growth is lower during episodes of low, moderate, and high debt ratios; while debt ratios are higher during depressions. We look at precedence of entries and exits in overlapping episodes, and the decomposition of the debt ratio during intervals just before and after overlaps. Output movements influence the debt ratio more during exit than entry. Debt movements often precede depressions. Developing countries account for these results almost exclusively. (JEL E32, E62, O47)     

美国金融危机的政府因素——奥地利学派商业周期理论的视角

近期,美国次贷危机所引发的金融风暴成为众多学者的研究熬点问题.大部分学者采用凯恩斯主义的典型观点,认为是市场失灵(需求不足)或者说政府的管制和干预不够造成了经济的萧条.为了应对萧条,政府应该尽早采取强有力的措施拯救市场.刺激经济.而在奥地利学派的米塞斯和罗斯巴德看来,大萧条的根源并不是经济的自由放任,恰恰是政府的干预,政府应对经济危机的正确做法不是去刺激经济、积极救市,而应该是放弃干预,采取自由的市场原则.本文试图就奥地利学派的商业周期理论来解读这次金融危机的根源和应对策略.     

中国经济的体制困境与波动形成:一个理论框架及其检验

本文挖掘中国经济波动的体制困境,试图为中国的经济波动勾勒出一个理论框架。目前的经济体制是波动形成的来源,经济体制中信贷—投资—增长—通胀四个互相契合的作用机制使得经济发展陷入体制困境当中,呈现出活—乱—收—死的形态。利用1978—2007年经济增长率、固定资产投资增长率、年末贷款余额增长率和消费者价格指数的年度数据,通过设置单位根检验、协整检验和格兰杰因果关系检验,本文验证了这一理论。我们的理论表明,中国的经济波动内生于其特殊的经济运作体制,因而也就面临两难处境。摆脱这一困境的出路在于体制变革和经济增长方式的转变。     

消费波动小于产出波动吗?

我们发现东亚主要经济体普遍存在消费波动大于产出波动的现象,初步分析表明这与各经济体的经济转型有关,我国转型期以来比较剧烈的总消费波动应主要归于居民消费行为的转型:(1)以1990年为界,我国居民总消费自经济转型以来的前一个时间段中波动比较剧烈,之后则趋于平稳。进一步地,由于我国的经济改革先从农村开始,而后推进到城镇,相应地农村和城镇居民消费在两个时间段中的波动幅度也出现了明显差异;(2)消费的剧烈波动往往出现在转型早期,在转型后期大部分东亚经济体的消费序列开始变得平稳;(3)耐用品不能解释我国消费的大部分波动性。     

A note on economic freedom and political ideology

Within the field of public economics, there is the perception that Republicans are associated with ‘small government’ and Democrats with ‘big government’. We test this notion by examining whether economic freedom is affected when a single party is in control of the state legislature. We find no link between party control and our main economic freedom indicator, but we do find a positive link between Republican control and the taxation component of economic freedom, suggesting a Republican legislature leads to lower taxation.     

A comparison of aggregation methods for measures of economic freedom

Empiricists have used various editions of an economic freedom index (EFI) initially developed by Gwartney et al. (1996) [Gwartney, J., Lawson, R., Block, W., 1996. Economic Freedom of the World: 1975–1995. Fraser Institute, Vancouver.] to examine the relationship between economic freedom and other socio-economic variables, such as growth or investment. The EFI quantifies the level of particular institutional characteristics thought to promote economic freedom and aggregates them into a single index value. The aggregation procedures utilized by Gwartney and Lawson in developing their index have changed over time and other scholars have promoted alternative methods. We examine several index aggregation procedures and show that each design may have potential methodological flaws that can greatly affect the empirical findings.     

Economic policy uncertainty and real output: evidence from the G7 countries

We use economic policy uncertainty index, and impulse response based test to assess the impact of economic policy-related uncertainty on real economic activity. We use monthly data, over the period from 1985:1 to 2015:3, and impulse response functions to investigate how the economies of the G7 countries respond to positive and negative economic policy uncertainty shocks of different magnitudes. We find that economic policy uncertainty is countercyclical, that the effects of uncertainty shocks increase with size and that the responses of real output to positive and negative economic policy uncertainty shocks are country specific. Our research is important for policymaking and in favour of policies that remove economic uncertainty and its negative effects on the economy. We argue that some control over yellow journalism, a transparent tax system and a set of predictable fiscal and monetary policies can minimize the social costs of economic policy uncertainty.     

Economic sociology: a historical perspective

In this paper we briefly recall what is meant by economic sociology, basing our definition principally on the works of R. Swedberg and M. Cranovetter. We then focus on the questions and problematics which are more particularly relevant to the history of economic and sociological thought in such a way as to make explicit the kind of past in relation to which economic sociology is most pertinent. We shall thus be induced to correct certain explanations and to propose a slightly different perspective on the origin of economic sociology. This historical work enables us to formulate a definition of economic sociology based on two key concepts - economic institution and economic action - and allows us to articulate what economic sociology actually is, rather than merely describing what it is not. Finally, we show that these propositions are not without interest in relation to the present-day economic sociology that tends to go by the name - made fasionable by Granovetter and Swedberg - of ‘New Economic Sociology.’     

为什么中国经济不是过冷就是过热?

经济波动是一种伴随着增长的正常现象 ,但如果在长期发展中总是出现波幅很大的振动 ,则需要分析这种波动是否正常。中国经济在改革开放以来的 2 0多年内虽然强劲增长 ,但经济波动幅度很大。导致经济大幅波动的原因何在 ?本文通过一个改进的货币先行模型来探讨货币变动对经济波动的作用 ,基本结论是 ,因为中国市场发育水平低 ,频繁的货币供给量波动会引起经济的大起大落。     

Income inequality and economic growth

Despite the extensive existing literature on income inequality and economic growth, there remains considerable disagreement on the effect of inequality on economic growth. Existing literatures find either a positive or a negative relationship. In this paper, we attempt to theoretically examine that relationship with a stochastic optimal growth model. We make the disagreement clear within a single model. We conclude (i) that both are possible – that is, higher inequality can retard growth in the early stage of economic development, and can encourage growth in a near steady state, (ii) that income redistribution by high income tax does not always reduce income inequality. Income inequality can be reduced by higher income tax in a near steady state, but it cannot be reduced in the early stage of economic development, and (iii) that two government polices – rapid economic growth and low income inequality – can be achieved by low income tax in the early stage of economic development, but both cannot be achieved simultaneously in a near steady state.     

中国的财政分权与经济增长——基于省级面板数据的实证

在Barro、Davoodi和Zou模型的基础上,本文构造了一个财政分权与经济增长关系的模型,并利用1980-2004年省级面板数据,采用随机效应回归方法,分阶段实证研究了我国财政分权对经济增长的影响.实证研究发现,财政分权总体上促进了我国的经济增长,而且我国财政分权的经济增长效应存在显著的跨区差异,东部地区的财政分权经济增长优势高于中西部地区.作者认为,财政分权体制下地方政府财政行为的差异与公共支出构成的差异是造成我国财政分权经济增长效应跨区差异的重要原因.     

我国高新技术产业对经济增长的贡献及启示

通过借鉴国内外高新技术产业研究的相关理论成果,利用＂菲德模型＂探讨了高新技术产业对我国经济增长的作用机理,其中将我国的经济部门按照＂菲德模型＂的要求划分为高新技术产业部门和非高新技术产业部门,并提出两个假设：①高新技术产业和非高新技术产业的边际要素生产率存在差异;②高新技术产业的边际要素生产率要高于非高新技术产业。然后利用我国两类经济部门1995-2005年的相关时间序列数据,从实证的角度对我国高新技术产业与经济增长的关系进行了经验分析。本文研究结果显示,现阶段我国高新技术产业促进经济增长的作用并不明显,主要是通过对传统产业的渗透作用来实现的,因此,加快高新技术产业化进程和对传统产业的改造是实现我国发展高新技术产业带动经济增长的重要途径。     

Predicting US county economic resilience from industry input-output accounts

Resilience is defined as a system’s ability to initially resist and then recover from a shock. Here we apply this concept to examine the performance of U.S. counties during the Great Recession. The response of local economies to manmade and natural shocks is hypothesized to depend on the centrality of local industries within the economy, or how well connected they are to the other industries. We first calculate a centrality value for each industry using the national Input-Output accounts. We then ‘step down’ these values to the county level using industry employment data. We then test empirically whether local economies containing more centralized industries were more resilient, using a resilience measure that compares the local employment rebound and decline during the Great Recession. Our results suggest that measures of economic centrality adopted from the study of complex networks provide new insights when applied to the fields of regional science and spatial analysis, and economic growth more generally.     

Economic cycles and downside commodities risk

We de-compose the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index into its underlying commodity sub-categories and develop a modified conditional value at risk (CVaR) metric to examine downside risk linked to economic periods which are classified by their GDP growth as green, yellow, orange and red. We term this new metric economic CVaR (ECVaR). We found significant differences in the relative ECVaR rankings of different commodities over our different economic cycles.     

The effect of economic freedom on growth revisited: New evidence on causality from a panel of countries 1970–1999

Does economic freedom cause economic growth or does causality run in the reverse direction? And do all the constituent parts of economic freedom exert a causal impact on economic growth or do some freedoms matter more than others? In order to answer these questions, this paper conducts a series of Granger causality tests using panel data for the period 1970–1999. In addition, the paper discusses a number of model specification issues, e.g. lag-length selection and the importance of intervening variables. The results suggest that some (but not all) aspects economic freedom affect economic growth and investment. On the other hand, there is only weak evidence that growth affects economic freedom.     

A bioeconomic study of numeracy and economic calculation

Systems of numerical representation and computation are crucial for the operation of modern market economies. Surprisingly, however, numerical institutions and people’s numerical abilities are usually taken as given in economic analysis. To develop a richer vision of economic agents, this article investigates the interplay of biological and economic factors in the development of systematic numerical cognition and economic calculation in human societies. In investigating the economic basis of numeracy, we emphasize that it is the relevance of economic objects to need satisfaction and their scarcity that initially makes people seek to quantify goods and to develop numerical tools. As for biological aspects, we identify the pre-numerical (iconic) quantitative capacities that we share with other species as part of our biological endowment. We then investigate the fully-fledged symbolic systems of numerical representation that are unique to humans. We examine the scope for economic exchange in societies in which agents are endowed with natural iconic means for representing set sizes but lack a conventionalized number system. We also investigate the minimal set of quantitative representations that people need to have in order to engage in monetary exchange and precise economic calculation.