Liquidity and macroeconomic management in emerging markets

Emerging markets have received considerable attention for foreign investment and international diversification due to the possibility of higher earnings and a low level of integration with global equity markets. These high returns often need to be balanced by the high liquidity costs of trading in illiquid emerging markets. Several studies have shown that central bank and government policies are significant determinants of market liquidity. We investigate the influence of monetary and fiscal policy variables on the market and firm level liquidity of eight emerging stock markets of Asia. Using four different (il)liquidity measures and nine macroeconomic variables, we find that changes in the money supply, government expenditure and private borrowing significantly affect stock market liquidity. Illiquidity is also strongly affected by the bank rate, short-term interest rate and government borrowing. We demonstrate that ‘crowding out’ and ‘cost of funds’ effects exist in these markets. Other major findings are that some markets are more sensitive to local macroeconomic news than world factors, the impact on size based portfolios largely depends on the instruments used by the central banks and government, the liquidity of the manufacturing sector is affected by changes in any policy variables, financial institutions are only influenced by monetary policy variables, and the service sector is least affected.     

China and Global Macroeconomic Interdependence

China is transitioning towards more inward‐focussed growth, causing adverse changes in the product and financial terms of trade in the advanced economies. At the same time, international financial markets tussle between tightening forces associated with the US recovery on the one hand and unconventional monetary expansion in Europe and Japan on the other. The way these shocks interact is examined in this paper using a global macromodel with national portfolio rebalancing and asset differentiation and a representation of unconventional monetary policy. Results are found to be sensitive to the contributions of productivity and capital accumulation to China's growth. When these are offered in realistic combination, the effects are deflationary in the United States and China, militating against contractionary US monetary policy. Monetary responses in the United States and China then combine with price targeting regimes in the EU and Japan to expand liquidity globally, amplifying impacts on financial markets and the global distribution of real investment.     

Monetary and fiscal policy transmission in the Euro-area: evidence from a structural VAR analysis

This paper studies the transmission of monetary and fiscal policy in the Euro-area. To do so, structural VAR models are estimated. First, the EMU countries are considered as an aggregate entity and the estimation results are compared with those for the US and Japan. Attention is also paid to interaction of macroeconomic policies and the effects of shocks in financial markets. As a next step, SVARs are estimated for the individual EMU countries to analyze cross-country differences. It turns out that, compared to the EMU aggregate, individual EU countries react rather differently to monetary and fiscal policy shocks.     

The Changing Role of Financial Stress,Oil Price,and Gold Price in Financial Contagion among US and BRIC Markets

The objective of this paper is to explore the determining factors behind financial contagion between US and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) equity markets. To this end, we investigate the effects of global macroeconomic factors on the time‐varying correlations among these markets obtained by asymmetric dynamic conditional correlation method. Utilizing quantile regression analysis, we examine the determinants of financial contagion at different levels of time‐varying correlations. The results of quantile regression analyses reveal that global financial crisis (GFC) (2008) leads to changes in the dependence structure between dynamic conditional correlations among equity markets and global macroeconomic factors, such as global financial stress, oil prices, and gold prices. Following the GFC, monetary, and fiscal policy changes in the BRIC markets and hence changing macroeconomic risks of these markets are conducive to these changes. Our findings also demonstrate the importance of cross‐market rebalancing channel for information transmission across US and BRIC markets.     

Niedrige Zinsen — gesamtwirtschaftliche Ursachen und Folgen

Due to the financial crises from 2008 to 2012, unconventional monetary policy caused an environment of record low interest rates around the world. Maintaining the low interest rate policy might be reasonable for the ECB in the short run in order to fight the fragmentation of the financial market and the risk of defl ation in the Eurozone. Some authors argue that permanently low interest rates lead to wrong incentives in the financial market for debtors and creditors alike. They fear potential risks for fiscal policy and financial stability in Germany and recommend macroprudential measures beyond the Basel III framework and a beginning exit of the ECB from its unconventional monetary policy. Others warn against overburdening monetary policy. They find rather that effective financial market regulation and proper fiscal rules and institutions are required to secure financial market stability and the sustainability of public debt and that a premature exit from accommodating monetary policies would do more harm than good. They argue that monetary policy alone will not solve Europe’s problems. The differing recommendations are mainly based on differing assessments of the European business cycle.     

宏观政策的协调机制与欧洲债务危机

通过政策调整损失函数的理论模型分析,认为负的需求冲击是构成欧洲债务危机的前提,而缺乏货币政策协调的持续性扩张财政政策是欧洲债务危机的本质原因。对2000Q1—2010Q1的"PIIGS"的季度数据进行实证分析后,发现5国独立财政政策和欧元区共同货币政策的协调机制是存在冲突的。希腊长期均衡和短期调整均存在主权债务危机风险,因而成为首个爆发危机的国家。西班牙、意大利的短期调整虽暂时缓解了主权债务危机出现的可能,但不能解决发生危机的根本问题。而爱尔兰、葡萄牙只是短期内实施了过度的积极财政计划而造成了主权债务危机假象。     

Driven by the markets? ECB sovereign bond purchases and the securities markets programme

At the height of the European sovereign debt crisis, the European Central Bank decided to purchase distressed European government bonds. Even worse, and more importantly, the ECB is providing direct support of several hundred billions of euros to troubled banks via its normal monetary policy operations by granting them the opportunity to refinance at an interest rate of 1%. This article argues that these purchases will result in common monetary policy being dominated by national fiscal policies. The most worrisome aspect is that the euro area appears to have stumbled into unconventional monetary policies that, once started, will be difficult to exit. In the euro area, properly functioning financial markets are at risk.     

Bond markets co-movement dynamics and macroeconomic factors: Evidence from emerging and frontier markets

This paper examines the co-movement dynamics of ten emerging and four frontier government bond markets with the US market and the impact of macroeconomic factors and global bond market uncertainty on the time-varying co-movement. We find that macroeconomic factors play important role in explaining time variations in the bond return co-movement. Specifically, domestic macroeconomic factors have higher relative importance than global factors, with domestic monetary policy and domestic inflationary environment identified as the most influential factors. The global bond market uncertainty, based on an implied volatility measure, has explanatory power in driving co-movement dynamics in emerging and frontier bond markets.     

The Bubble and the Lost Decade

In this overview of the Symposium papers, we note that the bubble that occurred in Japan's asset markets in the late 1980s came at a time when the conventional indicators of Japan's economic performance were relatively stable. Following the collapse of the bubble, neither the Bank of Japan (BOJ) nor the Ministry of Finance (MOF) took timely and effective measures to deal with the recession that followed. While the evidence suggests that looser fiscal policy would have been ineffective, monetary policy measures might have worked. However, the BOJ followed a relatively tight monetary policy in 1991–93. In the face of the liquidity trap that ensued in the last of the 1990s, the conventional tools of stabilisation policy appeared to be of limited use. To help the Japanese economy to recover from the ‘lost decade,’ we thus discuss a number of unconventional and bold measures that the BOJ and MOF could pursue. It appears, however, that the political will is absent to undertake such measures. So long as this is the case, the effects of the lost decade will continue to act as a drag on the economy.     

Global Volatility and Forex Returns in East Asia*

During 2001–2010, increases in mature market volatility were associated with declines in forex returns for East Asian economies, consistent with an overall ‘flight to safety’ effect. Estimates from GARCH models suggest that a 10 percentage point increase in mature market equity volatility generated an exchange rate depreciation of up to 3/4 percent. This sensitivity rose during a more tranquil subsample for some countries, reflecting their greater integration with global financial markets. Long‐run forex volatility increased in Asian economies after 2008, reflecting the global reach of the financial crisis in mature markets. Unconditional standard deviations estimated from these models provide operational measures of ‘long‐term’ and ‘excess’ volatility in forex markets.     

The Determinants of Bond Market Development: Further Evidence from Emerging and Developed Countries

The objective of this paper is to empirically investigate the structural, financial, developmental, institutional, and macroeconomic determinants of bond market development for a sample of 22 emerging and developing countries over the period 1990–2013. We employ both the Prais-Winston and system GMM procedures to tackle the problems of endogeneity among the explanatory variables and our measure of bond market development, group-wise heteroscedasticity, and contemporaneous cross-sectional and serial correlations in the residuals. Our results suggest that a combination of structural, financial and institutional factors seem to exert a significant effect on bond markets. Indeed, economic size, trade openness, investment profile, GDP per Capita, bureaucratic quality, and size and concentration of banking system are positively related to bond market development, while interest rate volatility and fiscal balance are negatively associated with the development of bond markets. Those results are robust to the inclusion of developed countries' bond markets, international bonds issuers, and to possible structural breaks.     

Bond yields in emerging economies: It matters what state you are in

While many studies have looked into the determinants of yields on externally issued sovereign bonds of emerging economies, analysis of domestically issued bonds has hitherto been limited, despite their growing relevance. This paper finds that the extent to which fiscal variables affect domestic bond yields in emerging economies depends on the level of global risk aversion. During tranquil times in global markets, fiscal variables do not seem to be a significant determinant of domestic bond yields in emerging economies. However, when market participants are on edge, they pay more attention to country-specific fiscal fundamentals, revealing greater alertness about default risk.     

我国货币政策效果弱化的原因及对策

从宏观经济层面和货币政策本身以及中央银行的独立性等微观层面分析,使我国货币政策效果弱化的原因包括金融抑制、外汇占款、货币政策传导机制不畅、中央银行缺乏独立性等,针对这些问题我国应在疏通货币政策传导机制、大力发展金融机构债券市场和企业短期债券市场、深化国有商业银行改革、协调发展资本市场和货币市场等方面采取措施。     

Realized bond—stock correlation: Macroeconomic announcement effects

The authors investigate the effects of macroeconomic announcements on the realized correlation between bond and stock returns. It was found that it is not so much the surprise component of the announcement, but the mere fact that an announcement occurs that influences the realized bond—stock correlation. The impact of macroeconomic announcements varies across the business cycle. Announcement effects are highly dependent on the sign of the realized bond—stock correlation, which has recently gone from positive to negative. Macroeconomic announcement effects on realized bond and stock volatilities are also investigated. Our results are robust across 8:30 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. announcements. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 27:439—469, 2007     

政策协调、产业结构升级及宏观经济效应分析

不同模式的宏观政策协调不但会对产业结构优化产生差异性影响,也会影响产业结构优化带来的宏观经济效应。本文在新凯恩斯框架下构建理论模型,并基于贝叶斯参数估计和数值模拟分析政策协调对产业结构优化以及宏观经济效应的影响。研究发现:数量型货币政策比价格型货币政策更有利于产业结构优化,收入型财政政策比支出型财政政策更有利于产业结构优化;价格型货币政策和收入型财政政策的政策协调更有利于产业结构优化对消费、就业和产出的促进作用,数量型货币政策和支出型财政政策的政策协调更有利于产业结构优化对通货膨胀的稳定作用;货币政策对产业结构优化升级这一目标与稳定经济波动这一目标存在着Trade Off现象,财政政策对产业结构优化升级这一目标与促进经济增长这一目标存在着Trade Off现象。因此,建议采取货币政策为主、财政政策为辅的宏观经济调控政策,具体操作体现在减息为主结合降低税率水平为辅的政策协调组合来应对经济增速下滑和产业结构升级。     

Unconventional economic policies and sentiment: An international assessment

This paper estimates, using Bayesian and global VARs, the spillover effects of unconventional fiscal and monetary policies implemented in the United States and in the Eurozone during the last decade. Consumer confidence and investor sentiment indicators are introduced in the models in order to highlight the signalling channel in the responses to economic policy innovations in times of crisis. Our results reveal that consumer and investor perceptions of innovative economic measures are relevant to study the pass-through of economic policies to the real sector in times of crisis and zero lower bound interest rates. In particular, the signalling channel plays an important role in successful unconventional economic policies. Moreover, if unconventional economic policies have an impact abroad, the effects are similar to those measured in the domestic country/region. Consequently, coordination and transparency are a prerequisite for ensuring short-term growth after a global financial crisis.     

财政货币政策在宏观调控中的协调配合

在财政政策与货币政策之间存在一些结合部,深入研究这些结合部对于充分发挥财政货币政策作用,减少政策摩擦,具有重要意义。本文认为,我国政府已经能够根据宏观经济形势的需要主动选择适当的政策组合,运用间接手段调节供求关系,并初步建立了适应市场运行机制的宏观调控体系。文章强调,财政货币政策的协调配合一直是宏观调控的核心问题之一,随着我国政府“财政货币双稳健”宏观调控思想的确立,两大政策的协调配合将从以总量调控为主转向以结构或制度配合为主。     

Financial Stability and the Hemianopsia of Monetary Policy

Financial stability concerns cannot be separated from macroeconomic objectives of monetary policy. Stimulative monetary policy works by creating financial conditions that could lead to instability in markets that could, in turn, engender deflationary pressures. Although the Federal Reserve Act does not explicitly mention financial stability as an FOMC objective, it is fundamentally bound together with the achievement of the explicit goals of maximum employment and price stability.     

A Vicious Cycle of Manias,Crises and Asymmetric Policy Responses – An Overinvestment View

Over the past three decades, we find that asymmetric policy responses heavily contributed to manias and bursting bubbles that eventually trapped the major industrial economies into near zero short‐term interest rates with rapidly rising public indebtedness. The article uses the endogenous business cycle theories of Wicksell, Mises, Schumpeter, Hayek and Minsky to show how ostensible counter‐cyclical monetary policies are asymmetric, as central banks are less willing to raise interest rates in booms than cut them when bubbles collapse. After interest rates have fallen towards zero, fiscal policy is called on which sooner or later becomes bounded by extraordinary debt to GDP ratios. Central banks hesitate to raise interest rates even in the face of a partial economic recovery because the cost of public debt service would become prohibitive. The economies then languish at very low interest rates that encourage low productivity real investments and a continual threat of bubbles in asset and raw material markets. This makes them unable to deal with further macroeconomic shocks.     

地方政府举债的货币扩张效应及其政策协同

各国政府均会面临日益频繁出现的社会供需总量有悖于货币流通和金融稳定的诸多问题,为此财政与金融当局综合运用各种政策工具力求实现经济的稳定和协调发展。作为国家宏观调控的重要工具之一,地方政府举债如何避免政策冲突并最大化政策组合效力,是当前亟待深入研究的重要课题。本文通过构建包含金融摩擦、多期债券和举债规则等要素在内的NK-DSGE模型,深入剖析地方政府举债的货币效应和传导机制,并探讨其与货币政策协同配合的最佳模式。研究发现:(1)1%的地方政府举债冲击(债券久期=5年)会推动货币乘数上升0.39%,产生货币扩张效应,且债券久期越长,该扩张效应越大;(2)面对实体冲击和金融冲击,货币政策对地方政府举债采取适度从紧的反向协同配合,能有效抑制其货币扩张效应,更好地实现经济稳定和复苏;(3)对于久期较长的债券,提高地方政府举债规则的风险反应敏感度有利于增进福利。