The impact of monetary policy on the exchange rate: evidence from three small open economies

This paper studies the impact effect of monetary policy shocks on the exchange rate in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand during the 1990s. Shocks are identified by the reaction of three month market interest rates to policy announcements that were not themselves endogenous to economic news on the same day. The main result is that a 100 basis point contractionary shock will appreciate the exchange rate by 2-3 percent on impact. The association of interest rate hikes with depreciations that is sometimes observed during periods of exchange market pressure is mainly attributable to reverse causality.     

Fiscal deficits and inflation

Macroeconomic theory postulates that persistent fiscal deficits are inflationary. Yet empirical research has had limited success in uncovering this relationship. This paper reexamines the issue in light of broader data and a new modeling approach that incorporates two key features of the theory. Unlike previous studies, we model inflation as non-linearly related to fiscal deficits through the inflation tax base and estimate this relationship as intrinsically dynamic, using panel techniques that explicitly distinguish between short- and long-run effects of fiscal deficits. Results spanning 107 countries over 1960-2001 show a strong positive association between deficits and inflation among high-inflation and developing country groups, but not among low-inflation advanced economies.     

Corruption, inequality, and fairness

Bigger governments raise the possibilities for corruption; more corruption may in turn raise the support for redistributive policies that intend to correct the inequality and injustice generated by corruption. We formalize these insights in a simple dynamic model. A positive feedback from past to current levels of taxation and corruption arises either when wealth originating in corruption and rent seeking is considered unfair, or when the ability to engage in corruption is unevenly distributed in the population. This feedback introduces persistence in the size of the government and the levels of corruption and inequality. Multiple steady states exist in some cases.     

Big elephants in small ponds: Do large traders make financial markets more aggressive?

Market participants often suspect that large traders have a disproportionate effect on financial markets, increasing the aggressiveness of market responses. Prior studies have shown that the impact of a large trader on a currency crisis depends positively on his “size” and informational position. By contrast, this article highlights the role that market sentiment has on the impact of a large trader. If the market believes that fundamentals are weak, then the probability of a crisis depends positively on the trader's size but negatively on the precision of his information, with these effects reversed in a generally optimistic market. A large player, therefore, need not make market responses more aggressive.     

R. J. Chambers on Securities and Obscurities: Making a Case for the Reform of the Law of Company Accounts in the 1970s

This study examines the contribution of Raymond J. Chambers to the British inflation accounting debate in the early‐to‐mid 1970s, from the perspective of the reception of his book, Securities and Obscurities: A Case for Reform of the Law of Company Accounts, published in 1973. To structure the empirical narrative, drawing on previously unpublished documents from the R. J. Chambers Archives, we employ Czarniawska and Joerges’ ( 1996 ) notion of the ‘travel of ideas’, and Mumford’s ( 1979 ) observation of the existence of ‘inflation accounting debate cycles’. The result is a narrative that traces the environmental and material circumstances that led to Chambers’ book having a lesser impact on the British inflation debate than one would expect based on the international exposure of his ideas, his influence at the time, and the empirical rigour of his proposal. The purpose of this exercise is to assess how contextual factors, such as the choice of publisher, use of promotional material, and distribution methods, can be as (or more) important than the substance of the proposed ideas, arguments, and solutions.     

Raise Rates to Raise Inflation? Neo‐Fisherianism in the New Keynesian Model

Increasing the inflation target in a New Keynesian (NK) model may require increasing, rather than decreasing, the nominal interest rate in the short run. We refer to this positive short‐run comovement between the nominal rates and inflation conditional on a nominal shock as Neo‐Fisherianism. We show that the NK model is more likely to be Neo‐Fisherian the more persistent is the change in the inflation target and the more flexible are prices. Neo‐Fisherianism is driven by the forward‐looking nature of the model. Modifications that make the framework less forward‐looking make it less likely for the model to exhibit Neo‐Fisherianism.     

Working Less and Bargain Hunting More: Macroimplications of Sales during Japan's Lost Decades

Standard New Keynesian models have often neglected temporary sales. In this study, we ask whether this treatment is appropriate. We use Japanese scanner data covering the last two decades and find a negative correlation between the frequency of sales and hours worked. We then construct a model that takes households' decisions regarding their allocation of time for work, leisure, and bargain hunting into account. We show that the decline in hours worked explains the rise in the frequency of sales. The real effect of monetary policy shocks weakens by around 40% due to temporary sales, but monetary policy still matters.     

近30年我国农村宅基地有偿使用研究综述与展望

目的 宅基地有偿使用是我国新一轮宅基地制度改革的重要探索内容之一。宅基地有偿使用是促进宅基地集约、高效利用的重要推手,也是显化宅基地财产属性的重要途径。有关宅基地有偿使用的综述研究,已有学者利用文献分析法和归纳总结法进行分析,但是在文献的时效性、研究热点的可视化等方面存在很多问题。方法 文章通过CiteSpace5.6.R5软件对1992—2020年中国知网上“宅基地有偿使用”的发文量、研究热点和演进趋势进行可视化信息分析,并结合具体文献,对农村宅基地有偿使用研究提出了研究述评与展望。结果 （1）从发文量看,宅基地有偿使用的研究可分为萌芽发展、缓慢发展和快速发展3个阶段。（2）从研究热点看,对宅基地有偿使用的研究主要集中在“宅基地有偿使用费”“一户多宅”“超占多占”和“三权分置”等关键词。（3）从演进趋势看,宅基地制度改革与制度设计、宅基地使用权流转、宅基地管理以及三权分置将成为宅基地有偿使用的研究重点。结论 总体展望看,明确宅基地有偿使用的适用情形,研究宅基地有偿使用收费标准和有偿使用资金管理办法,探索宅基地有偿使用与宅基地资格权认定、宅基地登记确权及有偿退出的衔接机制是未来宅基地有偿使用研究中须着重关注的内容。     

基于DEA的传统农耕地区农业生产效率测度*——以皖北为例

［目的］农业生产效率是衡量农业生产的重要标准,其生产效率测度结果对研究区域农业经济发展具有重要意义。［方法］文章以皖北农耕地区为研究对象,通过采集2017年统计年鉴的相关数据,构建农业生产绩效评价指标体系,并引入虚拟决策单元,运用数据包络分析（DEA）方法,从自评和他评的角度对2017年皖北各县级单元的农业经济生产效率进行测度,并基于结果的迥异进行效率、冗余及空间分异的分析。［结果］皖北地区农业生产整体效率较低,呈现出粗放式的农业生产模式; 各种投入要素配置不尽合理,皆存在不同程度上的冗余,整体上看塑料薄膜冗余最高、化肥施用的冗余最低; 空间分异显著,南北表现为由北向南逐渐降低的“S”型趋势、东西呈现出两端高中间低的扁平状“v”型空间分异特征。［结论］粗放式的农业生产导致了皖北农业生产效率整体较低,应完善生产要素配置,大力推进农业现代化建设,促进皖北地区农业整体性协调发展,提升地区农业生产效率。