WORDS, DEEDS AND OUTCOMES: A SURVEY ON THE GROWTH EFFECTS OF EXCHANGE RATE REGIMES

Abstract.  Recent studies on the growth effects of exchange rate regimes offer a wide range of different, sometimes contradictory results. In this paper, we systematically compare three prominent contributions in this field. Using a common data set, a common specification and common estimation methods, we argue that the contradictory findings can be explained by the fact that these studies use regime classifications which reflect fundamentally different aspects of exchange rate policy.     

Measures to tame credit growth: Are they effective?

This paper focuses on policy measures taken to curb bank credit growth in the private sector in the pre-crisis period 2003–2007. Our analysis is based on an original survey conducted in 2010 on eleven central banks in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The findings reveal substantial policy intervention: a total of 82 measures were implemented in CEE during the period considered. The paper presents a panel data analysis of the effectiveness of the policy measures adopted in the region. The overall results indicate that certain measures – particularly asset classification and provisioning rules and loan eligibility criteria – might have been effective in taming bank credit growth, especially if applied in the context of more general policy measures featuring a combination of various instruments. However, in countries in which the authorities managed to somewhat decrease the flows of bank credit into the economy, the measures were often circumvented via direct, cross-border credit from foreign banks and credit provided by domestic, non-bank financial companies.     

How effective is monetary transmission in low-income countries? A survey of the empirical evidence

This paper surveys the evidence on the effectiveness of monetary transmission in low-income countries. It is hard to come away from this review with much confidence in the strength of monetary transmission in such countries. We distinguish between the “facts on the ground” and “methodological deficiencies” interpretations of the absence of evidence for strong monetary transmission. We suspect that “facts on the ground” are an important part of the story. If this conjecture is correct, the stabilization challenge in developing countries is acute indeed, and identifying the means of enhancing the effectiveness of monetary policy in such countries is an important challenge.     

Risky bank lending and countercyclical capital buffers

We study the properties of a monetary economy with an essential role for risky bank lending. Banks issue deposits and lend to entrepreneurs. Because banks׳ lending rate cannot be made contingent on aggregate shocks, and because banks face capital adequacy regulations, they require a capital buffer against loan losses. Capital adequacy regulations are modeled on the Basel-III rules, including a minimum capital adequacy ratio, an endogenous capital conservation buffer, and a countercyclical capital buffer. We find that a countercyclical capital buffer leads to a significant increase in welfare. It also reduces the need for countercyclical adjustments in policy interest rates.     

Does trade integration alter monetary policy transmission?

This paper explores the role of trade integration—or openness—for monetary policy transmission in a medium-scale new Keynesian model. Allowing for strategic complementarities in price setting, we highlight a new dimension of the exchange rate channel by which monetary policy directly impacts domestic inflation: a monetary contraction which appreciates the exchange rate lowers the local currency price of imported goods; this, in turn, induces domestic producers to lower their prices too. We pin down key parameters of the model by matching impulse responses obtained from a vector autoregression on time series for the US relative to the euro area. Our estimation procedure yields plausible parameter values and suggests a strong role for strategic complementarities. Counterfactual simulations show that openness alters monetary transmission significantly. While the contractionary effect of a monetary policy shock on inflation and output tends to increase in openness, we find that monetary policy's control over inflation increases, as the output decline which is necessary to bring about a given reduction of inflation is smaller in more open economies.     

我国的汇率制度弹性、资本流动性与货币政策自主性研究

本文实证研究了2005年7月21日汇率制度改革前后我国的汇率制度弹性、资本流动性和货币政策自主性的系统变化情况。研究结果表明,汇改后我国汇率制度弹性增强,资本流动性减弱,同时利率政策自主性增强,但货币数量政策则由汇改前的具有自主性变为缺乏自主性;在我国通过增强汇率制度弹性以提高利率政策自主性是可行的,但对货币数量政策并不成立。研究结果同时也表明,我国应以利率为货币政策中介目标。     

Japanese and U.S. interventions in the yen/U.S. dollar market: estimating the monetary authorities’ reaction functions

This paper uses recently released official data on the foreign exchange market interventions of the Japanese monetary authorities in the yen/U.S. dollar market during the period 1991–2001 to examine the motivation for the intervention policy. We also compare the Japanese intervention policy with the U.S. intervention policy. Our results suggest that the Japanese authorities regularly responded to deviations of the yen/U.S. dollar exchange rate from a short-term and a long-term exchange rate target. By contrast, the U.S. authorities intervened only occasionally and seemed to have merely reinforced Japanese interventions.     

Inflation targeting and monetary policy in Canada: What is the impact on inflation uncertainty?

Inflation uncertainty has been demonstrated both theoretically and empirically to lower real output. This paper examines the impact of inflation targeting in Canada on inflation uncertainty, as well as persistence. Our results indicate that inflation targeting lowered inflation persistence, but actually increased uncertainty. Such an effect may be due to the failure of the previous formal target, the M1 money supply, to successfully combat inflation.     

外商直接投资、实际汇率升值与政策选择——基于中国的经验研究

本文利用协整和误差修正模型研究了外商直接投资与人民币实际汇率之间的关系，并通过VAR模型分析了抑制人民币实际汇率升值的有关政策。主要发现在于：外商直接投资主要流入到贸易品部门，在短期不会对人民币实际汇率产生影响，而长期会导致实际汇率升值。短期内冲销干预是一个较好的抑制升值的政策，但长期该政策是无效的。从长期看，面对国外资本大量流入中国，放松资本流出、鼓励本国企业“走出去”是抵制升值的最有效政策。紧缩财政开支的政策也有抑制升值的功能，但与放松资本流出政策相比，其政策效果一般。     

中国货币市场深化进程中的汇市弹性与压力分析

自21世纪以来,中国货币市场与外汇市场均发生了翻天覆地的变化。对近十年中国货币市场深化发展进程汇市弹性与压力问题的实证结果表明,更富弹性的汇制、更高市场化程度的汇市倾向于高发展水平的货币市场;同时需要政府对外汇市场的逐步放开,使得汇率的波动与调控逐步市场化。货币市场越深化发展,需要更具弹性的汇制与更具自由化的外汇市场与之相协调发展。伴随货币市场的稳步发展,中国汇制的选择更趋合理、更具弹性。     

成本、费用、支出概念及其关系研究

成本、费用、支出的概念及其关系问题,长期以来是理论界争论较多,实践中运用较乱,规范体系中也缺乏总体一致性的一个基础理论问题。根据国内外对此问题的研究现状,文章采取中西方对比分析的方法并结合会计实践对成本、费用、支出的概念及其关系问题进行了探讨,试图通过对比分析来揭示成本、费用、支出概念的本质特征,规范它们之间的关系,使企业提供的成本、费用信息既符合国际惯例的要求,又能满足信息使用者的决策需要。     

Macroeconomic and financial stability in a monetary union: The case of Lithuania

In this paper, we study the implications of macroprudential policies in a monetary union for macroeconomic and financial stability. For this purpose, we develop a two-country monetary union new Keynesian general equilibrium model with housing and collateral constraints, to be calibrated for Lithuania and the rest of the euro area. We consider two different scenarios for macroprudential policies: one in which the ECB extends its goals to also include financial stability and a second one in which a national macroprudential authority uses the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) as an instrument. The results show that both rules are effective in making the financial system more stable in both countries, and especially in Lithuania. This is because the financial sector in this country is more sensitive to shocks. We find that an extended Taylor rule is indeed effective in reducing the volatility of credit, but comes with a cost in terms of higher inflation volatility. The simple LTV rule, on the other hand, does not compromise the objective of monetary policy. This reinforces the “Tinbergen principle”, which argues that there should be two different instruments when there are two different policy goals.     

Liquidity traps and expectation dynamics: Fiscal stimulus or fiscal austerity?

We examine global dynamics under infinite-horizon learning in New Keynesian models where the interest-rate rule is subject to the zero lower bound. The intended steady state is locally but not globally stable. Unstable deflationary paths emerge after large pessimistic shocks to expectations. For large expectation shocks that push interest rates to the zero bound, a temporary fiscal stimulus, or in some cases a policy of fiscal austerity, will insulate the economy from deflation traps if the policy is appropriately tailored in magnitude and duration. A fiscal stimulus “switching rule,” which automatically kicks in without discretionary fine-tuning, can be equally effective.     

我国国际收支对通货膨胀传导机制的经济计量检验

随着经济全球化程度的日益提高，我国的经济运行已经处于渐进的开放经济条件之下，这使得货币控制已经不完全取决于国内的经济因素。因此，研究来自外部经济因素的影响就越发显得重要。本文通过Granger影响关系、VAR模型的冲击反应和误差方差分解等方法证实了通货膨胀的外部传导机制，即我国国际收支状况的变化引致外汇储备变化，对以外汇占款形式的基础货币投放产生影响，从而对通货膨胀构成影响，最终对宏观经济运行产生作用。