Slow recoveries

Economies respond differently to aggregate shocks that reduce output. While some countries rapidly recover their pre-crisis trend, others stagnate. Recent studies provide empirical support for a link between aggregate growth and plant dynamics through its effect on productivity: the entry and exit of firms and the reallocation of resources from less to more efficient firms explain a relevant part of transitional productivity dynamics. In this paper, we use a stochastic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous firms to study the effect on aggregate short-run growth of policies that distort the process of birth, growth, and death of firms, as well as the reallocation of resources across economic units. Our findings show that indeed policies that alter plant dynamics can explain slow recoveries. We also find that output losses associated to delayed recoveries are large.     

On the relationship between intermediate input imports and export quality in China

This paper studies the connection between intermediate input imports and firms’ export quality using firm‐level data from 2000 to 2007. Our regression results show that intermediate input imports promote manufacturing firms’ export quality through ‘variety effects’ and ‘innovation effects’, though the effects are significantly different among firms with different characteristics, and the magnitude of these effects differs across import sources and the quality of imported intermediate inputs themselves. Moreover, we find that a good institutional environment is conducive to the strengthening of the positive influence of intermediate input imports on export quality. Furthermore, the dynamic decomposition demonstrates that the reallocation effect is the key force through which imported inputs boost industrial aggregate quality growth. Taken together, these results suggest that product upgrading facilitated by quality embedded in imported intermediate inputs, a good institutional environment and market share reallocation help Chinese firms to improve the quality of their export products.     

Government subsidy and aggregate productivity dynamics: Evidence from China

Based on data for Chinese manufacturing firms from 1999 to 2007, this study explores the dynamic evolution of aggregate total factor productivity (TFP) from the perspective of firmsʼ entry and exit. It also quantifies how government subsidies influence the aggregate productivity growth. By decomposing aggregate productivity growth into components, including technological progress, reallocation, entry, and exit effects, we found that aggregate TFP growth in Chinese manufacturingfollows an upward trend during the sample period. This tendency originates from the contribution of technological progress, reallocation, and exit effects. Moreover, the effects of these four components on aggregate TFP growth of different industries, regions, and ownership types are different. Furthermore, technological progress, reallocation, and exit effects are important pathways for government subsidies to promote aggregate TFP growth in Chinese manufacturing.     

STRUCTURAL CHANGE AND AGGREGATE EMPLOYMENT FLUCTUATIONS IN CHINA

In developed countries, aggregate employment is strongly procyclical and almost as volatile as output. In China, the correlation of aggregate employment and output is close to zero, and the volatility of aggregate employment is very low. We argue that the key to understanding aggregate employment fluctuations in China is labor reallocation between the agricultural and nonagricultural sectors, and that the income effect plays an important role in determining the labor reallocation dynamics in both the long run and short run.     

The role of agriculture in aggregate business cycles

There are substantial differences in business cycle fluctuations across countries. These differences are systematically related to the share of agriculture in the economy: Countries with a high share of employment in agriculture feature high fluctuations in aggregate output, low relative volatility of aggregate employment, and low correlation of aggregate output and employment. In addition, agriculture has certain distinctive features over the business cycle: Output and employment in agriculture are more volatile than and not positively correlated with output and employment in the rest of the economy and output and employment are less correlated in agriculture than in non-agriculture. Because of these features, agriculture may play a role in accounting for aggregate business cycles across countries. We calibrate an otherwise standard two-sector indivisible-labor business cycle model with agriculture and non-agriculture to aggregate and sectoral data for the United States. We find that an increase in the employment to population ratio in agriculture from 2 to 30 percent in our model increases fluctuations in aggregate output by almost 40 percent. This is about 2/3 of the difference in aggregate fluctuations between countries such as Turkey and the United States.     

The structural transformation and aggregate productivity in Portugal

We document the substantial process of structural transformation—the reallocation of labor between agriculture, manufacturing, and services—and aggregate productivity growth undergone by Portugal between 1956 and 1995. We assess the quantitative role of sectoral labor productivity in accounting for these processes. We calibrate a model of the structural transformation to data for the United States and use the model to gain insight into the factors driving the structural transformation and aggregate productivity growth in Portugal. The model implies that Portugal features low and roughly constant relative productivity in agriculture and services (around 22%) and a modest but growing relative productivity in manufacturing (from 44 to 110%). We find that productivity growth in manufacturing accounts for most of the reduction of the aggregate productivity gap with the United States and that a further closing of this gap can only be accomplished via improvements in the relative productivity of services. This paper was written while the authors were affiliated with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. We would like to thank the editor, two anonymous referees, and participants at the Third Conference on Portuguese Economic Development in the European Context organized by the Bank of Portugal for their comments. All errors are our own.     

INDUSTRIAL AND AGGREGATE MEASURES OF PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN CHINA, 1982–2000

We estimate productivity growth for 33 industries covering the entire Chinese economy using a time series of input–output tables covering 1982–2000. Capital input is measured using detailed investment data by asset and labor input uses demographic information from household surveys. We find a wide range of productivity performance at the industry level. We then show how these industry growth accounts may be consistently aggregated to deliver a decomposition of aggregate GDP growth. For the 1982–2000 period aggregate TFP growth was 2.5 percent per year; decelerating from a rapid rate in the early 1980s to negative growth during 1994–2000. The main source of growth during the 1982–2000 period was capital accumulation, with a small negative contribution from the reallocation of factors across industries.     

PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH AND WORKER REALLOCATION*

Productivity dispersion across firms is large and persistent, and worker reallocation among firms is an important source of productivity growth. An equilibrium model of growth and firm evolution designed to clarify the role of worker reallocation in the growth process is studied. We show that it explains the correlations between size measures and labor productivity found in Danish firm data. Conditions under which the reallocation of workers from less to more productive firms contributes to aggregate productivity growth in the economy modeled are derived. Finally, a proof of existence of an equilibrium solution to the model is also provided.     

Beyond Balanced Growth

Balanced growth models are commonly used in macroeconomics because they are consistent with the well-known Kaldor facts regarding economic growth. These models, however, are inconsistent with one of the most striking regularities of the growth process-the massive reallocation of labour from agriculture into manufacturing and services. This paper presents a simple model consistent with both the Kaldor facts and the dynamics of sectoral labour reallocation.     

The Effects of Devaluation on Aggregate Output: Empirical Evidence from Africa

This paper tests the contractionary devaluation hypothesis in the context of select African countries. The output effect of devaluation is examined within an empirical model that controls, among others, for the parallel currency premium, the rate of net capital inflow, the degree of capacity utilization and political instability. The model is estimated on pooled data drawn from 20 African countries, employing alternative indicators of devaluation and pooling procedures. The results indicate that the contemporaneous output effect of nominal devaluation is negative, providing statistical support for the hypothesis that devaluation is contractionary in the short run. On the other hand, the coefficient of the lagged rate of devaluation is found to be positive, implying that the contractionary problem is temporary. The magnitude of the observed contractionary effect appears to depend on the rate of net capital inflow and the degree of capacity utilization. Devaluations accompanied by augmented net capital inflow and implemented in the presence of excess capacity are found to be less contractionary than otherwise equivalent exchange‐rate changes. The results also seem to imply that devaluations launched in the context of sizeable unofficial markets for foreign exchange are less injurious to aggregate economic activity than other exchange‐rate adjustments.     

出口的资源配置效应——基于中国制造业的经验检验

Melitz(2003)通过引入企业的生产率异质性,发现出口可以迫使行业内低效率的企业退出市场,继而通过行业内资源的重新配置实现行业总体生产率水平的提升。文章选取1999-2007年间中国制造业行业层面数据为样本,在分别运用索洛余值法、随机边界分析法(SFA)和数据包络分析法(DEA)对行业生产率水平进行测算的基础上,对贸易自由度与行业总体生产效率之间的关系进行经验检验,结果发现中国的出口对于行业加总的生产率水平的促进作用并不显著,没有明显证据表明异质性企业贸易理论提出的这一新的获得贸易利益的途径在中国的存在。最后,文章建议应该进一步消除各种阻碍自由贸易的壁垒,努力盈造行业内公平、有序的竞争氛围,继而获得由出口引致的通过行业内资源重新配置带来的贸易利得。     

Structural change in exports and economic growth: cointegration and causality analysis for Spain (1961–2000)

The Spanish export-led growth hypothesis is re-examined from the trade liberalization process initiated four decades ago. For this purpose both the export expansion and the progression from ‘traditional’ exports to manufactured and semimanufactured exports are taken into consideration. A new evidence is reported for the above period. Alongside a feedback between aggregate exports and real output, it has been proved that the structural transformation in export composition has also become a key factor for Spain's economic development.     

Structural Change,Expanding Informality and Labor Productivity Growth in Russia

Strong growth, intensive structural change, and expanding informality have characterized many developing and emerging economies in recent decades. Yet most empirical investigations into the relationship between structural change and productivity growth overlook informality. This paper includes the informal sector in an analysis of the effects of structural changes in the Russian economy on aggregate labor productivity growth. Using a newly developed dataset for 34 industries covering the period 1995–2012 and applying three alternative approaches, aggregate labor productivity growth is decomposed into intra-industry and inter-industry contributions. All three approaches show that the overall contribution of structural change is growth enhancing, significant, and decreasing over time. Labor reallocation from the formal sector to the informal sector tends to reduce growth through the extension of informal activities with low productivity levels. Sectoral labor reallocation effects are found to be highly sensitive to the methods applied.     

Currency devaluation in an open-shop union

This paper sets up an efficient wage–employment bargaining model embodying both styles of closed- and open-shop union in the context of an open economy. The paper's main purpose is to highlight the impacts of a domestic currency devaluation on the labor market and aggregate output. It is found that the effects of currency devaluation, in general, are not unequivocal. Particularly, owing to the influence of the membership effect, its impacts are crucially related to the operation style (closed shop or open shop) of the union.     

The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Enterprises in Small Backward Economies: the Case of Chad and Gabon

This paper examines the impact of trade and fiscal reforms and of the 1994 devaluation of the CFA franc on enterprise development in Chad and Gabon. These reforms provide a natural experiment to assess the impact of trade liberalization in countries with a small and backward manufacturing sector. The empirical analysis is based on a new panel data base covering virtually the whole population of manufacturing firms in Chad and Gabon, and containing data spanning from the year before to two years after the reforms. The paper finds that although firms’ response to changing incentives was non‐negligible, with a shift of output from nontradable to tradable and an increase in productivity, the reform process was unable to generate a virtuous and self‐sustained circle, where export expansion brings a generalized productivity increase which in turn feeds on further export growth.     

资源错配、要素市场总扭曲及福利损失测算*——基于单位要素成本的生产率分解视角

通过引入单位要素成本指标,本文对佩特兰和勒文叟汉（Petrin and Levinsohn）的生产率分解模型进行了拓展,［1］得到了一个更为准确的资源重置效应。利用2000—2007年中国规模以上制造业企业数据,经过测算显示,技术进步和要素市场总扭曲是生产率增长的主要来源;样本期间资源重置对生产率增长的平均贡献仅有324%,且日渐式微。然而资源错配造成的福利损失却依旧占制造业增加值的近2663%。这表明,在现有体制下通过市场自发调节促进要素合理配置的空间已经耗尽,经济结构呈现出一定的“固化”倾向,进一步的资源重置应来自对现有经济结构的改革,以缓解资源错配。本文最后通过测算各地区的资源重置潜力,为区域结构优化提供了一个量化参考。     

Dual equilibrium and growth cycle in Argentina

Argentina’s GDP growth cycle, tracing the high exchange rate volatility in 1970–2008, is discussed. Growth depends on foreign exchange availability. The country’s comparative advantage is in agriculture, but manufactured exports are grow faster. Two remarkably different PPP exchange rates coexist – one appropriate for agriculture and one for manufacturing – destabilising the market exchange rate. Thus, two unstable growth equilibria coexist generating GDP fluctuations. Currency devaluation sets the cycle’s ceiling and the end of devaluation sets the cycle’s floor. Chronic government deficits widen the cycle, harming institutions and decelerating growth. A land tax to finance rural investment would facilitate a high and stable exchange rate (AR$/US$) and convergence to the high growth equilibrium.     

Exchange rate management and stabilization policies in developing countries

We outline three channels via which a devaluation has a direct contractionaly impact on the aggregate supply side of the economy: local currency costs of intermediate imports, wage indexing in the presence of food imports and reduced volume of real credit to firms. Contractionary effects via the supply side are more damaging than Krugman-Taylor effects via aggregate demand since a cut in aggregate supply leads to upward pressure on inflation while a cut in aggregate demand tends to abate inflation. Upward pressure on inflation may over time threaten the increase in competitiveness a nominal devaluation also intends to achieve. We also discuss the implications of a substantial foreign debt. We demonstrate that a successful devaluation raises the real (in terms of domestic goods) debt service burden, causing a Krugman-Taylor like contractionary effect on aggregate demand. We then analyse the effects of a preannounced slowdown of the rate of depreciation. Our results of course do not imply that a devaluation should never be considered. They do suggest, however, that a devaluation is likely to be an ineffective tool for demand management since it may cut aggregate supply as much or more in the short run.     

A Band Spectral Analysis of Exports and Economic Growth in the United States

This paper examines the role of exports in aggregate economic growth in the United States using band spectral regression. The findings reveal a predictable relationship between long-run frequency components of real export growth and real GDP growth over the post-Bretton Woods period of flexible exchange rates. The study fails to uncover a significant relationship between long-run frequency components of the terms of trade and real output. Overall, the findings support the export-led growth hypothesis, and dismiss long-run movements in the terms of trade as an important determinant of real output growth.     

人民币汇率双向波动对中国及世界经济的影响--基于单一国家和多国的动态 CGE 模型

随着人民币国际化进程的加快,人民币汇率波动的国际效应进一步加强。文章分别建立了单一国家和多国的动态 CGE 模型,基于最新的全球贸易分析计划(GTAP )数据库和中国2012年投入产出表,分别模拟了2016－2030年人民币持续贬值和先贬值后升值的两种情景,并从物价水平、国际贸易、经济总量、行业产出等多个方面分析了人民币汇率变动对中国及世界主要经济体的影响。研究发现：(1)在价格指数方面,人民币贬值将给中国带来一定的通货膨胀压力;(2)在贸易方面,人民币贬值只能在短期内扩大中国的净出口,但在远期反而会导致净出口下降;(3)在经济总量方面,人民币贬值只在开始阶段的短期内能促进中国经济增长,而长期贬值将导致中国经济增长速度放缓;(4)在产业结构方面,中国的农业和工业在贬值情景下的产量呈现先升后降的趋势,而服务业的产量持续下降。总之,两种情景均不利于中国经济的长远发展;相反,东盟、日本和美国等世界主要经济体将从中长期受益。因此,中国政府应当制定若干针对性的政策措施,加强预期管理,实施差别化的外贸政策,加强多方合作,积极应对国际汇率波动带来的风险。