Understanding the inflation–output nexus for China

In this article we examine several hypotheses relating to output and inflation dynamics in China. The hypotheses tests are based on the exponential generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model of Nelson [Nelson, D. (1991). Conditional heteroskedasticity in asset return: A new approach, Econometrica, 59, 347–370]. Our findings suggest that Chinese output–inflation behaviour is consistent with the hypothesis that increased inflation uncertainty lowers average inflation; the hypothesis that inflation volatility reduces economic growth and the hypothesis that higher output volatility increases economic growth. However, we find no support for the hypothesis that higher output volatility increases the average inflation rate.     

The Impact of Inflation Uncertainty on Output Growth and Inflation in Thailand*

We explore the impact of inflation uncertainty on output growth in Thailand, an emerging market economy with moderate inflation. Inflation and output uncertainty are modeled in a bivariate constant conditional correlation generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (AR(p)‐cccGARCH(1,1)) specification. We include the exchange rate in the mean equations, and use the headline and core inflation rates and industrial production to generate inflation and output uncertainty series. These series are then used in Granger causality tests to make inferences about the effect of monetary policy‐induced inflation uncertainty. Causality tests show a positive relation from inflation to inflation uncertainty. Additionally, increased inflation uncertainty decreases output. These results are consistent with real costs associated with moderate inflation. Finally, we find no evidence that monetary policy reduced these costs.     

中国通货膨胀率与其不确定性之间的非线性动态关系

通货膨胀率和通货膨胀不确定性之间相互影响,二者之间的内在关系对政府运用货币政策具有重要的现实意义。本文采用1990年1月以来居民消费价格指数(CPI)的月度数据,结合随机域回归模型、系列随机域的非线性检验方法、最大似然估计及贝叶斯估计方法,对我国通货膨胀率与通货膨胀不确定性的关系进行了实证分析。实证研究发现,通货膨胀率引起了通货膨胀不确定性,两者呈现非线性的U型关系,支持了Friedman假说;大的通货膨胀不确性引起通货膨胀率先升后降,呈现非线性倒U曲线关系,Cukierman-Meltzer假说在U型左侧范围内成立,于U型右侧Holland结论成立。     

Inflation,Inflation Uncertainty,and Relative Price Variability

This paper tests three models that predict a relationship between the variability of relative price changes (RPV) and aspects of inflation such as expected inflation, unexpected inflation, and inflation uncertainty. These are, respectively, the menu-costs model, the Lucas-Barro signal-extraction model, and the Hercowitz-Cukierman extension of the Lucas-Barro model that allows for different price elasticities of supply across markets. The results imply rejection of the hypothesis that any one of the models entirely explains the relationship between inflation and RPV and also imply rejection of the hypothesis that the three models together jointly explain the relationship.     

Inflation and price instability in China: A comment

In a recent article in the Review, Yi (1990) explores the relationship between the level of inflation in China and its predictability. Based on seven different models of the inflation expectations process, the evidence presented unambiguously supports the hypothesis that an increase in the level of inflation is positively associated with an increase in uncertainty about it. To test the robustness of this result, I explicitly account for two outliers in the inflation series and determine whether Yi's results hold after this adjustment. Once the influence of these two outliers are accounted for, there is no support for the level/uncertainty hypothesis using data for China.     

Globalization and Inflation: a Swiss Perspective

Is inflation caused by global developments instead of domestic monetary factors? This paper explores the role of globalization for inflation, especially in Switzerland, one of the smallest and most open economies where the globalization hypothesis should be most relevant. It provides tests of whether Swiss inflation is causally related to inflation elsewhere. It also examines Swiss inflation in a P* model and whether it is also influenced by inflation abroad or by import prices. It finds that Swiss inflation is made at home. Evidence is presented of a co-integrating relationship of Swiss and German inflation, likely due to common inflation objectives.     

Inflation Targeting in ASEAN‐10

The paper addresses the empirical question of whether economies that do not systematically target inflation (non‐inflation targeters) experience higher exchange rate volatility as compared with inflation targeters in 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) from 1990 to 2010. The paper examines the role of real exchange rate, exchange rate volatility and the reaction functions of central banks using dynamic panel estimation techniques. The results indicate that the output gap offers more useful information than the inflation gap in setting interest rates for inflation targeters, implying that the real term is more important than the nominal term. In turn, this suggests that an increase in interest rate can be wielded swiftly to reduce real gross domestic product and suppress inflation. The real exchange rate appears as a weaker determinant in setting interest rates for non‐inflation targeters. Inflation targeters experienced lower exchange rate volatility compared with non‐targeters in the ASEAN, which implies that implementation costs to their domestic economies may be marginally lower. Meanwhile, the non‐targeters follow a mixed strategy as both the inflation and real exchange rate are used as instruments to set the interest rates.     

Inflation Transmission in Greater China

This paper examines inflation dynamics in Greater China. Using an asymmetric error correction model, we investigate how inflation in Hong Kong and Macao are related to inflation in Chinese Mainland. Our results based on data from July 1997 to December 2012 reveal that a long‐term equilibrium relation exists between inflation in Chinese Mainland and inflation in both Hong Kong and Macao, the two Special Administrative Regions of China. The degree of inflation pass‐through is higher for Macao than for Hong Kong. Moreover, we find no evidence of asymmetries in either Hong Kong and Macao's adjustment speeds towards long‐run equilibrium or in the short‐run pass‐through of accelerating or decelerating inflation in the Mainland. Collectively, our results show a close relationship among price dynamics of the three economies and call for a reconsideration of the exchange rate anchor in the Greater China Region.     

新兴市场经济国家通货膨胀与汇率制度选择

本文利用23个新兴市场经济国家20年间的面板数据,对汇率制度和通货膨胀的关系进行实证研究,对我国汇率改革实践进行了考察。从我国的实际情况看,汇率波动的幅度越大则通胀率均值越大,2005年实行管理浮动以来我国通胀率处于明显的上升趋势。我国应该限制人民币升值幅度,发挥汇率的"名义驻锚"的作用,以此遏制通胀的进一步发展。     

Inflation targeting and inflation persistence in Asia–Pacific

Following the Asian financial crisis in 1997–1998, a number of regional central banks adopted inflation targeting. While it is possible for the average inflation rate to be close to target, deviations of inflation could nevertheless be large and protracted. We therefore explore how successful this framework has been by looking at the persistence of inflation, as measured by the sum of the coefficients in an autoregressive model for inflation, using a median unbiased estimator and bootstrapped confidence bands. We find that persistence tends to decline following the adoption of inflation targeting. The speed by which persistence falls varies across countries. Interestingly, the economies not adopting inflation targeting show a smaller decline in persistence. Overall, we conclude that inflation targeting has performed well in Asia.     

Inflation Uncertainty and Monetary Policy in China

This paper uses a stochastic volatility model structural break tests with unknown point, and a counterfactual simulation method to discuss the significant decline in inflation uncertainty in China over 1978-2009. We attempt to quantify the contributions of better monetary policy and smaller structural shocks （including demand, supply and policy impacts） on the reduced inflation uncertainty. Empirical results in the present paper suggest that improved monetary policy accounts for only a small fraction of the reduction in inflation uncertainty from the pre-1997 period to the post-1997 period in China. The bulk of the significant moderation in inflation uncertainty arises from smaller shocks. This finding indicates that the quiescence of inflation in China over the past decade could well be followed by a return to a more turbulent inflation era. Therefore, the use of preemptive monetary policy to anchor inflationary expectations and keep moderate inflation uncertainty is warranted.     

Inflation Expectations and Inflation Uncertainty in the Eurozone: Evidence from Survey Data

This paper uses the European Commission’s Consumer Survey to assess whether inflation expectations have converged and whether inflation uncertainty has diminished following the introduction of the euro in Europe. Consumers’ responses to the survey suggest that inflation expectations depend more on past national inflation rates than on the ECB’s anchor for price stability. Inflation expectations do not converge significantly faster than actual inflation rates. Regarding inflation uncertainty, the data indicate a relationship with country size following the introduction of the euro. This suggests that within EMU, inflation uncertainty may increase in countries that have a smaller influence on ECB policy. JEL no.  D84, E31, E58     

Inflation convergence in the EMS: Some additional evidence. A comment

Conclusions As in Caporale and Pittis, this paper finds significant evidence supporting the hypothesis of long-run equilibrium relationships between inflation rates in countries which participate in the ERM. However, the results differ in several important respects. First, the evidence rejects a dynamic specification in terms of inflation differentials against Germany and in at least one important case, Table 5, it is clear that imposing this restriction may lead to invalid inferences on the role of the ERM as a mechanism to achieve inflation convergence. Second, on the issue of German leadership the results given in Tables 4 and 5 suggest that the German inflation rate cannot be considered weakly exogenous. Rather it shares a long-run relationship with inflation in both ERM and non-ERM economies and responds to deviations from these equilibria. Finally, as these results also hold for a sample period twice the length of that used by Caporale and Pittis they cast considerable doubt on their assertion that cointegrating relationships are unlikely to be detected when “the dynamic process of convergence is still going on”.     

Inflation targeting in India: A comparison with the multiple indicator approach

The empirical literature on identification and measurement of the impact of monetary policy shocks on the real side of the economy is fairly comprehensive for developed economies, but very limited for emerging and transition economies. In this study, we propose an identification scheme for a developing economy (taking India as a case study), which is able to capture the monetary transmission mechanism for that economy without giving rise to empirical anomalies. Using a VAR approach with recursive contemporaneous restrictions, we identify monetary policy shocks by modelling the reaction function of the central bank and structure of that economy. The effect of monetary policy shocks on the exchange rate and other macroeconomic variables is consistent with the predictions of a broad set of theoretical models. This set-up is used to build a hypothetical case of inflation targeting where the monetary policy instrument is set after assessing the current values of inflation only. This is in contrast with the ‘multiple indicator approach’ currently followed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The results in this study suggest that the demand effects of interest rate are stronger than the exchange rate effects. There is also evidence of the mitigation of potential conflict between exchange rate and interest rate, one of main monetary policy dilemmas of the RBI in inflation targeting.     

Inflation and inflation uncertainty in the ASEAN-5 economies

This study explores the linkage between inflation and inflation uncertainty in the ASEAN-5 countries over the period 1970:01–2007:12. Inflation uncertainty is estimated as a conditional variance in an AR(p)-EGARCH(1,1) model. Granger causality tests show that rising inflation increases inflation uncertainty and that rising inflation uncertainty increases inflation in all five countries. The ASEAN-5 have had low inflation rates relative to other emerging markets. Thus, our study shows that even in low inflation emerging markets inflation can lead to inflation uncertainty and uncertainty can lead to inflation. Given current inflationary pressures in these countries, our results warn of possible costs of not keeping inflation in check.     

Reconsidering the International Comovement of Inflation

In this paper we reconsider the degree of international comovement of inflation rates. We use a dynamic hierarchical factor model that is able to decompose Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation in a panel of countries into (i) a factor common to all inflation series and all countries, (ii) a factor specific to a given sub-section of the CPI, (iii) a country group-factor and (iv) a country-specific component. With its pyramidal structure, the model allows for the possibility that the global factor affects the country-group factor and other subordinated factors but not vice versa. Using quarterly data for industrialized and emerging economies from 1996 to 2011 we find that about two thirds of overall inflation volatility is due to country-specific determinants. For CPI inflation net of food and energy, the global factor and the CPI basket-specific factor account for less than 20 % of inflation variation. Only energy price inflation in industrial economies is dominated by common factors.     

新兴市场经济国家通货膨胀发生概率与汇率制度选择——基于定性响应模型的实证研究

汇率制度选择问题是国际金融学研究领域的重要研究问题,选择适当的汇率制度对于处在转型过程中的新兴市场经济国家具有重要的现实意义。本文对23个新兴市场经济国家的460个样本建立了定性响应模型（Qualitative response model）,对这些国家1985—2004年间汇率制度与通胀发生概率二者之间的关系进行了实证分析,研究发现：固定汇率制度可以降低通胀发生的概率;模拟结果显示,如果我国实行固定汇率制度,通货膨胀发生的概率均明显低于同期对应的其他汇率制度下的概率;通货膨胀发生概率多次出现的阶段性高点与我国历次通货膨胀发生的时间段相吻合;2007年和2008年我国具有较高的发生通胀的可能性。目前,我国尚处于经济转型之中,应该继续维持固定汇率制度,以此作为反通胀的名义驻锚。     

Monetary Policy Uncertainty and Inflation: The Role of Central Bank Accountability

We analyse the issue of central bank accountability with the aid of a simple monetary policy game with uncertainty about the agent's inflation stabilisation preferences. We find that there may be an important economic role for accountability in addition to its political function of making the central bank answerable to voters through its accountability to the executive. The model suggests that for countries with relatively little central bank independence, or perhaps a poor inflationary track record, significant reductions in inflation can be achieved by lowering monetary policy uncertainty. These reductions are much smaller for inflation-averse central banks, when monetary policy uncertainty is reduced by the same absolute amount. Thus, the effectiveness of accountability – as a means of lowering both inflation and inflation uncertainty – is higher the lower the degree of central bank conservativeness.     

Worldwide Inflation and International Monetary Reform： Exchange Rates or Interest Rates？

The international dollar standard is malfunctioning. Near‐zero US short‐term interest rates launch massive hot money outflows into emerging markets (EM) in Asia and Latin America. Each EM central bank buys dollars to prevent its currency from appreciating but loses monetary control. Despite some appreciation, average inflation in EMs is now much higher than in the old industrial economies and world commodity prices are bid up sharply. This inflation on the dollar's periphery only registers in the US CPI with a long lag. However, the more immediate effect of the Fed's zero interest rate is to upset the process of bank intermediation within the American economy. Bank credit continues to decline while employment languishes. Therefore, constructive international monetary reform calls for the Fed to abandon its zero‐interest rate policy, which is best done in cooperation with the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England also abandoning their ultra low interest rates.