PRODUCTIVITY AND BUSINESS CYCLES IN JAPAN: EVIDENCE FROM JAPANESE INDUSTRY DATA*

Constructing a database of 37 industries, we examine whether the measured productivity in Japan is pro‐cyclical and investigate the sources of this pro‐cyclicality by using the production function approach employed by Hall (1990) and Basu and Fernald (1995). The aggregate Solow residual displays pro‐cyclicality. A large number of industries show constant returns to scale. No significant evidence for the presence of thick‐market externalities is found. Our results also hold when we consider labour hoarding, part‐time employment, and the adjustment cost of investment. The results indicate that policies to revitalize the Japanese economy should concentrate on promoting productivity growth.     

What Triggers Inflation in Emerging Market Economies?

This study aims at investigating the factors associated with the start of 24 inflation episodes in 15 emerging market economies (EMEs) between 1980 and 2001. The paper employs pooled probit analysis to estimate the contribution of the key factors to inflation starts. The empirical results suggest that increases in the output gap, agricultural shocks, and expansionary fiscal policy raise the probability of inflation starts in EMEs. The findings also indicate that a more democratic environment and an increase in capital flows relative to GDP reduce the probability of inflation starts. JEL no. E31, E58     

A NEW STAGE IN THE ACTIVITIES O F THE COUNCIL FOR MUTUAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE IN THE FIELD O F INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF NATIONAL PRODUCT

This article reports on the plans of the member countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) in the area of the purchasing power parity comparisons of national product and similar aggregates. A series of comparisons of the U.S.S.R. with other individual member countries was made for 1959,1966, and 1973. A new series will be undertaken for the year 1978. The scope of the program will be expanded to cover several new aggregates, including productivity concepts and total consumption of the population. The article discusses the conceptual and methodological problems and plans. Among other matters, attention is being given to the possibility of reducing the number of specifications priced, without sacrificing accuracy.     

Estimation of the manufactured export supply function from developing countries

Zusammenfassung Sch?tzung der Exportangebotsfunktion für Industrieerzeugnisse aus Entwicklungsl?ndern. — In dieser Arbeit werden zun?chst einige Schw?chen früherer empirischer Untersuchungen der Bestimmungsgründe für Industrieexporte aus Entwicklungsl?ndern diskutiert. Dann wird eine alternative Spezifikation angeboten, für die die relevanten Parameter mit Daten für Südkorea gesch?tzt werden. Der Ansatz besteht darin, j?hrliche Zeitreihen für 1963–71 und Querschnittsdaten für neun Industrien zu vereinigen. Die Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, da\ das Verhalten der Koeffizienten für den effektiven Wechselkurs und die Kapazit?tsausnutzung uneinheitlich ist, w?hrend die gesch?tzten Koeffizienten für die Produktionskapazit?t, die Preise nichtgehandelter Güter und die verz?gerten endogenen Variablen durchweg das erwartete Vorzeichen haben und hoch signifikant sind, was darauf hindeutet, da\ diese drei Faktoren vermutlich die wichtigeren Determinanten des Exportangebots in Südkorea sind. Deshalb scheinen die Exporte mehr durch interne Angebotsfaktoren wie Produktionskapazit?t und die Preise nichtgehandelter Güter beschr?nkt zu sein als durch die Rentabilit?t des Exports.

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Résumé L’estimation d’une function d’offre des exportations manufacturières des pays en voie de développement. — Cet article premièrement discute quelques défauts des études empiriques recentes sur les déterminants des exportations manufacturières des pays en voie de développement. Puis, l’article offre une spécification alternative et des données ensemble avec des estimations empiriques des paramètres importants pour le cas de la Corée de Sud. L’approche dans cet article est de grouper les séries chronologiques annuelles (1963–71) et les données transversales (sur 9 industries). Les résultats de l’étude présente indiquent que la performance du coéfficient du taux de change effectif et du taux d’utilisation de capacité est mélangée, pendant que les coéfficients estimés de la capacité de productivité des prix des biens pas commercés, et de la variable endogène retardée ont le signe attendu en entier et sont fortement significatifs en indiquant que ces trois facteurs sont probablement les déterminants plus importants de l’offre d’exportation dans la Corée de Sud. C’est pourquoi les exportations apparaissent d’être plus restreintes par des facteurs d’offre internes comme la capacité de produire et les prix des biens pas commercés que par la profitabilité d’exporter.

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Resumen Estimación de una función de oferta de exportación de manufacturas des países en desarrollo. — Este artículo discute primeramente diversas limitaciones de estudios empíricos anteriores sobre los determinantes de exportaciones manufactureras de pa’ises en desarrollo. En seguida, el artículo presenta una especificación alternativa y datos junto con estimaciones empíricas de los parámetros relevantes para el caso de Corea del Sur. El planteamiento de este artículo es el de combinar series de tiempo anuales (1963–71) con datos de corte transversal (a través de 9 industrias). Los resultados del presente estudio indican, que el desempe?o del coeficiente de la tasa de cambio efectiva y de la tasa de capacidad utilizada es mezclado, mientras que los coeficientes estimados para la capacidad productiva, precios para los productos no comerciables, y variable endógena retarda son consistentemente del signo esperado y altamente significativos, indicando que estos tres factores son probablemente los determinantes más importantes de la oferta de exportación de Corea del Sur. De tal manera, las exportaciones parecen estar m’as constre?idas por factores de oferta interna, tales como la capacidad para producir y los precios de los bienes no comerciables, que por la rentabilidad de las exportaciones.

     

Are REITs inflation hedges?

This study investigates the relationship between returns on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and anticipated inflation. It was motivated by the contradictory findings in the literature concerning the inflation-hedging characteristics of financial and real assets. We employ the methodology developed by Fama and Schwert, which represents a generalization of the Fisher equation. Two different measures of anticipated inflation were used to estimate the regression equations. The results show that REITs generally tend to behave like equities with respect to their hedging characteristics, regardless of how inflation expectations are measured. When we used a survey measure of anticipated inflation, however, we found some evidence that REITs are partial hedges against anticipated inflation.     

Risk and Household Grain Management in Developing Countries

A dynamic model is presented of a household's joint production, storage, and trade decisions when facing transaction costs and risk in prices and yields. Grain management decisions balance the goals of maximising profits and reducing consumption price risk. Model solutions calibrated to Chinese data show that grain's consumption role makes it an attractive form of precautionary saving even when households have access to credit, the joint nature of production and savings decisions limits the income loss associated with risk-coping, and the desire to store grain can explain why subsistence households are frequently net purchasers but rarely net sellers of grain.     

The Pacific basin in world trade an analysis of changing trade patterns, 1955–1975

In two previous papers by the same authors the data basis for the trade flows and the export prices in the Pacific Basin has presented and documented. In this third report the changing pattern of Pacific Basin trade over the period 1955–1975 is analyzed, using as tools export growth decomposition indexes, trend analysis, and regression analysis of the price elasticity of import market shares.