Measures of per Capita Hours and Their Implications for the Technology-Hours Debate

Structural vector autoregressions give conflicting results on the effects of technology shocks on hours. The results depend crucially on the assumed data generating process for hours per capita. We show that the standard measure of hours per capita and productivity have significant low-frequency movements that are the source of the conflicting results. Hodrick–Prescott (HP)-filtered hours per capita produce results consistent with those obtained when hours are assumed to have a unit root. We show that important sources of the low-frequency movements in the standard measure are sectoral shifts in hours and the changing age composition of the working-age population. When we control for these low-frequency components to determine the effect of technology shocks on hours using long-run restrictions we get one consistent answer: hours decline in the short run in response to a positive technology shock. We further extend the analysis by examining the effects of demographic controls on the impulse responses to investment-specific technology shocks. Our results are less conclusive.     

Variable long-term trends in mineral prices: The ongoing tug-of-war between exploration,depletion, and technological change

This paper explores the use of low-frequency band-pass filters for describing long-run trends in real mineral commodity prices. This approach has the advantage of allowing long-run trend rates to evolve gradually over time, rather than assuming that they are constant (perhaps with occasional structural breaks) over time. This is a flexible way of capturing the ongoing ‘tug of war’ between exploration, depletion, and technological change.Over 100 mineral and commodities, stretching back to the late 19th or early 20th century, are considered. The variety of LR trends is astonishing, but very few increase monotonically, contrary to the prediction of the basic Hotelling model. Some decline monotonically (as predicted by Prebisch and Singer); some have the U-shaped pattern predicted by Pindyck (1978), Heal (1981) and Slade (1982). Others have changed direction up to three times in the period since 1900. The tug of war continues with exhaustion nowhere in sight.     

Is the technology-driven real business cycle hypothesis dead? Shocks and aggregate fluctuations revisited

This paper re-examines recent empirical evidence that positive technology shocks lead to short-run declines in hours. Building on Galí's [1999. Technology, employment, and the business cycle: do technology shocks explain aggregate fluctuations. American Economic Review 89, 249-271] work, which uses long-run restrictions to identify technology shocks, we analyze whether the identified shocks can be plausibly interpreted as technology shocks. We first examine the validity of the identification assumption in a DGE model with several possible sources of permanent shocks. We then empirically assess the plausibility of the shocks using a variety of tests. After finding that the shocks pass all of the tests, we present two examples of modified DGE models that match the facts.     

What does a technology shock do? A VAR analysis with model-based sign restrictions

This paper estimates the effects of technology shocks in VAR models of the U.S., identified by imposing restrictions on the sign of impulse responses. These restrictions are consistent with the implications of a popular class of DSGE models, with both real and nominal frictions, and with sufficiently wide ranges for their parameters. This identification strategy thus substitutes theoretically motivated restrictions for the atheoretical assumptions on the time-series properties of the data that are key to long-run restrictions. Stochastic technology improvements persistently increase real wages, consumption, investment and output in the data; hours worked are very likely to increase, displaying a hump-shaped pattern. Contrary to most of the related VAR evidence, results are not sensitive to a number of specification assumptions, including those on the stationarity properties of variables.     

Non-stationary Hours in a DSGE Model

The time series fit of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models often suffers from restrictions on the long-run dynamics that are at odds with the data. Using Bayesian methods we estimate a stochastic growth model in which hours worked are stationary and a modified version with permanent labor supply shocks. If firms can freely adjust labor inputs, the data support the latter specification. Once we introduce frictions in terms of labor adjustment costs, the overall time series fit improves and the model specification in which labor supply shocks and hours worked are stationary is preferred.     

Learning and shifts in long-run productivity growth

An extensive literature has analyzed the macroeconomic effects of shocks to the level of aggregate productivity; however, there has been little corresponding research on sustained shifts in the growth rate of productivity. In this paper, we examine the effects of shocks to productivity growth in a dynamic general equilibrium model where agents do not directly observe whether shocks are transitory or persistent. We show that an estimated Kalman filter model using real-time data describes economists’ long-run productivity growth forecasts in the United States extremely well and that filtering has profound implications for the macroeconomic effects of shifts in productivity growth.     

Modelling the dynamics,structural breaks and the determinants of the real exchange rate of Australia

This paper examines the dynamics, structural breaks and determinants of the real exchange rate (RER) of Australia derived from an inter-temporal general equilibrium model. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) modelling results show that a one per cent increase in: (1) terms of trade appreciates the RER by 0.96–1.05 per cent in the long-run; (2) government expenditure appreciates the RER by 0.53–0.46 per cent in the long-run; (3) net foreign liabilities appreciates the RER by 0.18–0.22 per cent in the long-run; (4) interest rate differential depreciates the RER by 0.007–0.01 per cent in the long-run; (5) openness in trade depreciates the RER by 1.15–1.31 per cent in the long-run; and (6) per-worker labour productivity depreciates the RER by 0.38–0.55 per cent in the long-run. The two endogenously determined structural breaks are positive but are statistically insignificant. The speed of adjustment towards equilibrium is high with short-run disequilibrium correcting by nearly 39–47 per cent per quarter. These results add new insights to the literature on the determinants of RER in Australia. Apart from the terms of trade, the effects of other determinants of RER are contrary to the results obtained in previous studies.     

The Response of Hours to a Technology Shock: A Two-Step Structural VAR Approach

The response of hours to a technology shock is a controversial issue in macroeconomics. Part of the difficulty lies in that the estimated response is sensitive to the specification of hours in structural vector autoregressions (SVARs). This paper uses a simple two-step approach to consistently estimate the response of hours. The first step considers a SVAR model with a relevant stationary variable, but excluding hours. Given a consistent estimate of technology shocks in the first step, the response of hours to this shock is estimated in a second step. Simulation experiments from an estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model show that this approach outperforms standard SVARs. When applied to U.S. data, the two-step approach predicts a short-run decrease followed by a hump-shaped positive response. This result is robust to other specifications and data.     

Revisiting the supply side effects of government spending

We revisit the macroeconomic effects of government consumption in the neoclassical growth model when agents face uninsured idiosyncratic investment risk. Under complete markets, a permanent increase in government consumption has no long-run effect on interest rates and capital intensity, while it increases work hours due to the negative wealth effect. These results are upset once we allow for incomplete markets. The same negative wealth effect now causes a reduction in risk taking and the demand for investment. This leads to a lower risk-free rate and, under certain conditions, also to a lower capital-labor ratio and lower productivity.     

Technology shocks and labor market dynamics: Some evidence and theory

A positive technology shock may lead to a rise or a fall in per capita hours, depending on how hours enter the empirical VAR model. We provide evidence that, independent of how hours enter the VAR, a positive technology shock leads to a weak response in nominal wage inflation, a modest decline in price inflation, and a modest rise in the real wage in the short-run and a permanent rise in the long-run. We then examine the ability of several competing theories to account for this VAR evidence. Our preferred model features sticky prices, sticky nominal wages, and habit formation. The same model also does well in accounting for the labor market evidence in the post-Volcker period.     

Inventories, employment and hours

This paper develops a model that integrates inventory and labor decisions. We extend a model of inventory behavior to include a detailed specification of the role of labor input in the production process, distinguishing between employment, hours and effort per worker. We estimate jointly the Euler equations for inventories and employment, a labor compensation schedule, and an hours requirement function with the cross-equation restrictions imposed. The econometric results shed light on several important topics, including the shape of the marginal cost of output, the role of labor hoarding as an explanation of pro-cyclical productivity, and the persistence of inventory stocks.     

Economic fundamentals and the long-run correlation between exchange rates and commodities

We examine the short-run and long-run dynamics of the correlation between exchange rate and commodity returns, and assess the extent to which the long-run correlation is determined by economic fundamentals. Our empirical analysis is based on the dynamic conditional correlation model with mixed-data sampling (DCC-MIDAS). This model separates the high-frequency from the low-frequency dynamics of volatility and correlation and allows us to relate long-run volatility and correlation to economic fundamentals. Using both economic and statistical criteria for performance evaluation, we find that economic fundamentals are important determinants of the long-run correlation between exchange rate and commodity returns.     

The monetary model in the presence of I(2) components: long-run relationships, short-run dynamics and forecasting of the Greek drachma

This paper re-examines the long-run properties of the monetary exchange rate model using data for the drachma–dollar and drachma–mark exchange rates under the hypothesis that the system contains variables that are I(2). Using the recent I(2) test by Paruolo (On the determination of integration indices in I(2) systems. J. Economet. 72 (1996) 313–356) to examine the presence of I(2) and I(1) components in a multivariate context we find that the system contains two I(2) variables in both cases and this finding is reconfirmed by the estimated roots of the companion matrix (Do purchasing power parity and uncovered interest rate parity hold in the long-run? An example of likelihood inference in a multivariate time-series model. Juselius, J. Economet. 69 (1995) 211–240). The I(2) component led to the transformation of the estimated model by imposing long-run but not short-run proportionality between domestic and foreign money. Two statistically significant cointegrating vectors were found and, by imposing linear restrictions on each vector as suggested by Johansen and Juselius (Identification of the long-run and the short-run structure: an applicaion to the ISLM model. J. Economet. 63 (1994) 7–36) and Johansen (Identifying restrictions of linear equations with applications to simultaneous equations and cointegration. J. Economet. 69 (1995b) 111–132), the order and rank conditions for identification are satisfied, but the test for overidentifying restrictions was not significant only for the case of the drachma/mark rate. The main findings suggest that we reject the forward-looking version of the monetary model for the drachma/dollar case but not when the drachma/mark rate is used, a result that is attributed to the monetary and exchange rate policy followed by the Greek authorities since Greece's joining of the European Union. Furthermore, we test for parameter stability using the tests developed by Hansen and Johansen (Recursive estimation in cointegrated VAR-models. Working paper (1993) University of Copenhagen) and it is shown that the dimension of the cointegration rank is sample independent while the estimated coefficients do not exhibit instabilities in recursive estimations. Finally, it is shown that the monetary model outperforms the random walk model in an out-of-sample forecasting contest.     

The Quantitative Importance of News Shocks in Estimated DSGE Models

We estimate a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with several frictions and both unanticipated and news shocks, using quarterly U.S. data from 1954 to 2004 and Bayesian methods. We find that unanticipated shocks dominate news shocks in accounting for the unconditional variance of output, consumption, and investment growth, interest rate, and the relative price of investment. The unanticipated shock to the marginal efficiency of investment is the dominant shock, accounting for over 45% of the variance in output growth. News shocks account for less than 15% of the variance in output growth. Within the set of news shocks, nontechnology sources of news dominate technology news, with wage markup news shocks accounting for about 60% of the variance share of both hours and inflation. We find that in the estimated DSGE model (i) the presence of endogenous countercyclical price and wage markups due to nominal frictions substantially diminishes the importance of news shocks relative to a model without these frictions, and (ii) while there is little change in the estimated contributions of technology news when we restrict wealth effects on labor supply, the contributions of nontechnology news shocks are relatively more sensitive.     

The Time-Varying Response of Hours Worked to a Productivity Shock

This paper revisits the dynamic response of hours worked to a total factor productivity (TFP) shock. I estimate a structural vector autoregression that includes time-varying parameters and stochastic volatility. The estimation produces structural parameters that are consistent with the long-run identification. The impulse response functions of hours worked to a TFP shock are negative on impact and at the business cycle horizons. This is evidence that Galí (1999) would interpret as supporting new Keynesian theory. My results also show that TFP shocks are the dominant source of variation in average labor productivity. Structural changes in the U.S. economy play an important role in the TFP–hours worked relationship.     

The Feldstein-Horioka puzzle in the presence of structural shifts: The case of Japan versus the USA

This paper tests the Feldstein-Horioka “puzzle” for the two richest countries of the world: Japan and the USA. For this purpose it employs three different cointegration tests that are applied to the Feldstein-Horioka long-run investment-saving equation in conjunction with the Lumsdaine and Papell (1997) unit root test considering two structural shifts. A novel aspect of the paper is that it determines the number of breaks solely from a scrutiny of the data and that in constructing the dummy variables for the breaks it uses the endogenously determined break dates. It shows that allowing for structural shifts eliminates the “puzzle” both for Japan and the USA.     

High and low prices and the range in the European stock markets: A long-memory approach

This paper uses fractional integration techniques to examine the stochastic behaviour of high and low stock prices in Europe and then to test for the possible existence of long-run linkages between them by looking at the range, i.e., the difference between the two logged series. Specifically, monthly, weekly and daily data on the following five European stock market indices are analysed: DAX30 (Germany), FTSE100 (UK), CAC40 (France), FTSE MIB40 (Italy) and IBEX35 (Spain). In all cases, the order of integration of the range is lower than that of the original series, which implies the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between high and low prices. Further, multiple breaks are found in the high and low-price series but no breaks in the range, and the estimated fractional differencing parameter is positive in all cases, which represents evidence of long memory.     

Trend inflation, wage and price rigidities, and productivity growth

What are the steady-state implications of inflation in a general-equilibrium model with real per capita output growth and staggered nominal price and wage contracts? Surprisingly, a benchmark calibration implies an optimal inflation rate of -1.9 percent. The analysis also shows that trend inflation has important effects on the economy when combined with nominal contracts and real output growth. Steady-state output and welfare losses are quantitatively important even for low values of trend inflation. Further, nominal wage contracting is found to be quantitatively more important than nominal price contracting in generating the results. This conclusion does not arise from price dispersion per se, but from an effect of nominal output growth on the optimal markup of monopolistically competitive labour suppliers. Finally, accounting for productivity growth is found to be important for calculating the welfare costs of inflation. Indeed, the presence of 2 percent productivity growth increases the welfare costs of inflation in the benchmark specification by a factor of four relative to the no-growth case.     

Pricing Behavior and the Response of Hours to Productivity Shocks

Recent contributions have suggested that technology shocks have a negative impact on hours, contrary to the prediction of standard flexible-price models of the business cycle. Some authors have interpreted this finding as evidence in favor of sticky-price models, while others have either extended flexible-price models or disputed the empirical finding itself. In this paper, we estimate a variety of alternative total factor productivity measures for a representative sample of Italian manufacturing firms and on average find a negative effect of productivity shocks on hours growth. More interestingly, using the reported frequency of price reviews, we show that the contractionary effect is stronger for firms with stickier prices and weaker or not significant for firms with more flexible prices. Price stickiness remains a crucial factor in shaping the response of hours after controlling for product storability or market power.     

Spot-forward cointegration,structural breaks and FX market unbiasedness

FX market unbiasedness requires spot-forward cointegration with unitary vector, or a stationary forward-premium (FP). These conditions have found mixed support, which recent research explains via FP fractional integration. An alternative explanation is breaks in spot-forward cointegration regressions, so that I apply Gregory and Hansen [Gregory, A.W., Hansen, B.E., 1996a. Residual-based tests for cointegration in models with regime shifts. Journal of Econometrics 70, 99–126; 1996b. Tests for cointegration in models with regime and trend shifts. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 58, 555–560] models to DM, Yen and Pound data, allowing for intercept, slope, and time-trend shifts. I adapt the procedure of Bai [Bai, J., 1997. Estimation of a change point in multiple regression models. Review of Economics and Statistics 79, 551–563] to sequentially search for multiple breaks, and find evidence of cointegration with “regime-and-trend shifts” for the three currencies. Cointegration-with-breaks regressions show stationary residuals and unitary slopes across regimes, consistent with long-run unbiasedness overall. Forward-premium regressions estimated for subsamples determined by cointegration-regression break dates find support for short-run unbiasedness in some regimes but not others.