Political instability and inflation in Pakistan

This study investigates the effects of political instability on inflation in Pakistan. Applying the Generalized Method of Moments technique and using data from 1951 to 2007, we examine this link through two different models. The results of the ‘monetary’ model suggest that the effects of monetary determinants are rather marginal and that they depend upon the political environment of Pakistan. The ‘nonmonetary’ model's findings explicitly establish a positive association between political instability and inflation. This is further confirmed through analysis based on interactive dummies that reveal political instability significantly leading to high (above average) inflation.     

IS THERE AN ASYMMETRIC BEHAVIOUR IN AFRICAN INFLATION? A NON‐LINEAR APPROACH

In this paper we test the inflation persistence hypothesis as well as model the long‐run behaviour of inflation rates in a pool of African countries using a non‐linear framework. In order to do so, we rely on unit root tests applied to non‐linear models and fractional integration. The results show that the hypothesis of inflation persistence does not hold empirically for most of the countries. In addition, the estimated models (logistic smooth transition autoregressions) are stable in the sense that the variable tends to remain in the regime (low inflation or high inflation) once reached, and changes between regimes are only achieved after a shock. The results also indicate that the effects of the shocks on inflation tend to die out; exogenous factors, i.e. supply shocks and inertia may be causing this outcome, as they play a substantial role in the determination of the inflation rates for our selected African countries.     

MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND INEQUALITY: BRAZIL, 1983–94

We examine how poor macroeconomic performance, mainly in terms of high rates of inflation, affected earnings inequality in the 1980s and early 1990s in Brazil. The results, based initially on aggregate time series, and then on sub‐national panel time‐series data and analysis, show that the extreme inflation, combined with an imperfect process of financial adaptation and incomplete indexation coverage, had a regressive and significant impact on inequality. The implication of the results is that sound macroeconomic policies, which keep inflation low and stable in the long run, should be a necessary first step of any policy package implemented to alleviate inequality in Brazil.     

Inflation and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Southern African Development Community

In this paper, we investigate the role of inflation rates in determining economic growth in 15 sub‐Saharan African countries, which are all members of the Southern African Development Community, between 1980 and 2009. The results, based on panel time‐series data and analysis (we use the fixed effects and fixed effects with instrumental variables estimators to account for heterogeneity and endogeneity in thin panels), suggest that inflation has had a detrimental effect to growth in the community. We highlight that inflation has offset the Mundell–Tobin effect and consequently reduced the much needed economic activity in the community, and also the importance of an institutional framework conducive to a stable macroeconomic environment as a precondition for development and prosperity in the community.     

Determinants of inflation in India

The paper attempts to identify the determinants of inflation in India in a multivariate econometric framework using quarterly data from Q1: 1996–1997 to Q3: 2013–2014. The identified determinants of domestic inflation such as crude oil prices, output gap, fiscal policy and monetary policy, and their relation with inflation is studied in a structural vector auto regression (SVAR) model. Further, the temporal changes in inflation dynamics are analyzed using a time varying parameter SVAR model with stochastic volatility. It was found that inflation dynamics in India have changed over time with various determinants showing significant time variation in the recent years, particularly after the global financial crisis.     

THE SOUTH AFRICAN PHILLIPS CURVE: HOW APPLICABLE IS THE GORDON MODEL?

Is there a Phillips curve relationship present in South Africa and if so, what form does it take? Traditionally the method to establish whether or not there is a relationship between the output gap and the change in inflation is merely to regress the latter on the former. This yields the well‐known augmented Phillips curve. However, Gordon has argued that this specification of the Phillips curve produces biased results. Instead, he puts forward and estimates successfully for several industrialised countries his so‐called triangular model that tests for hysteresis and inertia in the behaviour of inflation, as well as the impact on inflation of changes in the output level. This paper considers whether or not Gordon's triangle model is applicable to South Africa, i.e. are hysteresis and inertia present in South Africa? In addition, in an attempt to find a better estimation of the output gap, the paper also experiments with alternative ways to estimate the long‐run output level, including the standard HP‐filter, as well as a production function approach.     

Re-examining the cyclical behaviour of prices and output

Re-Examining the Cyclical Behaviour of Prices and Output. -Re-cent studies have suggested that prices are not predominantly procyclical and that estimates of negative correlations provide substantially more support for “real” or supply-side interpretations than for “nominal” or demand-side interpretations of business cycles. This paper re-examines the implications of macroeconomic theory for prices and output and provides an alternative interpretation of the empirical results. The main conclusions are: (i) the correlations, when taken at face value, identify the presence of only temporary supply and demand shocks which is inconsistent with the postwar experience of sustained inflation; (ii) demand-induced business cycles can very well deliver timevarying and negative price-output correlations.     

Multinational companies and wage inequality in the host country: The case of Ireland

Multinational Companies and Wage Inequality in the Host Country: The Case of Ireland. — In this paper, the authors analyze the impact of multinational companies on wage inequality in a host country. Based on a model, in which the introduction of new technologies leads to increases in the demand for skilled labour and, therefore, to rising wage inequality, they econometrically study the Irish manufacturing sector between 1979 and 1995. They examine inequality between wages for skilled and unskilled labour within the same manufacturing sector. Their results indicate that there is an inverted-U relationship between wage inequality and multinationals, i.e., with the increasing presence of multinationals, wage inequality first increases, reaches a maximum, and decreases eventually.     

Income Inequality and Health: Do the Equivalence Scales Matter?

The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between income inequality and health in the European Union countries using new data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). The heterogeneity of the households has been approached using different equivalence scales. A variety of different model specifications were tried using different dependent variables such as life expectancy at birth and child mortality. The results give support to the influence of income inequality on health indicators using aggregate data and panel techniques, and show the sensitivity of the Gini index to the equivalence scale considered.