Working Papers
2024
July 26, 2024
Capital Controls on Outflows: New Evidence and a Theoretical Framework
Description: We study capital controls on outflows (CCOs) in situations of macroeconomic and financial distress. We present novel empirical evidence indicating that CCO implementation is associated with crises and declines in GDP growth. We then develop a theoretical framework that is consistent with such empirical findings and also yields policy and welfare lessons. The theory features costly coordination failures by foreign investors which can sometimes be avoided by suitably tailored CCOs. The benefits of CCOs as coordination devices can make them optimal even if CCOs entail deadweight losses; if the latter are large, however, CCOs are detrimental for welfare. We show that optimal CCOs can suffer from time inconsistency, and also how political opportunism may limit CCO policy. Hence government credibility and reputation building emerge as critical for the successful implementation of CCOs.
July 19, 2024
Deciphering Delphic Guidance: The Bank of England and Brexit
Description: In response to the 2016 referendum on EU Membership and the ensuing uncertainty as to the eventual consequences of Brexit, the Bank of England (BoE) adopted various methods of influencing market rates, including conventional, unconventional monetary policy measures and communications on forward guidance. To investigate the effectiveness of BoE’s communication, we first decompose long-dated yields into a risk neutral and term premium component. Text-based analysis of Monetary Policy Committee minutes is then used to measure the stance of policy, attitudes to QE and Brexit. We show that the Bank’s communication strategy acted to complement the stance of monetary policy, which had responded by lowering Bank rate and expanding QE, and acted to lower the term premium that might otherwise have risen in response to Brexit uncertainty.
July 19, 2024
Minimum Wages, Inequality, and the Informal Sector
Description: How do minimum wages affect earnings inequality in countries with large informal sectors? I provide reduced-form evidence that the 2000s minimum wage hike in Brazil raised overall inequality by increasing inequality inside the informal sector. I develop a model where heterogeneous firms select into informality to investigate when and how raising the minimum wage can increase inequality. I calibrate the model to Brazil and find that, by generating substantial informality, the increase in the minimum wage raised overall inequality by 6.4%. These results suggest that movements into and out of the informal sector modulate the effects of formal labor legislation.
July 19, 2024
The Global Financial Cycle: Quantities versus Prices
Description: We quantify the importance of the Global Financial Cycle (GFCy) in domestic credit and various local asset prices and compare it with that in capital flows. Using 2000-2021 data for 76 economies and a simple methodology, we find that each respective series’ common factor and conventional US GFCy-drivers together typically explain about 30 percent of the variation in domestic credit, up to 40 percent in stock market returns, about 60 percent in house prices, and more than 75 percent in interest rates and government bond spreads. These median estimates much exceed the 25 percent for capital flows. Our findings help to put the existing literature into context and have important implications for economic and financial stability policies, notably for the usage of quantity tools (e.g., FX interventions) that impact asset prices.
July 19, 2024
Gender Diversity and Corporate Resilience to Climate Change: Evidence from Greenfield Investments
Description: This paper examines the impact of board gender diversity on the performance of firms whose greenfield investments are struck by natural disasters. We find that corporations with more diverse boards are more likely to earn higher net income but less likely to have negative earnings in front of natural disasters. Further analyses indicate that those corporations with more diverse boards invest less in countries vulnerable to climate change but more in countries ready to adapt for climate change. They have lower exposure to environmental policy risks and are more likely to establish dedicated committees to oversee the risks.
July 19, 2024
The Green Future: Labor Market Implications for Men and Women
Description: This study examines the green transition's effects on labor markets using a task-based framework to identify jobs with tasks that contribute, or with the potential to contribute, to the green transition. Analyzing data from Brazil, Colombia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we find that the proportion of workers in green jobs is similar across AEs and EMs, albeit with distinct occupational patterns: AE green job holders typically have higher education levels, whereas in EMs, they tend to have lower education levels. Despite these disparities, the distribution of green jobs across genders is similar across countries, with men occupying over two-thirds of these positions. Furthermore, green jobs are characterized by a wage premium and a narrower gender pay gap. Our research further studies the implications of AI for the expansion of green employment opportunities. This research advances our understanding of the interplay between green jobs, gender equity, and AI and provides valuable insights for promoting a more inclusive green transition.
July 19, 2024
Policy Options for Climate Mitigation: Emissions Trading Schemes in Asia-Pacific
Description: Large reductions in global emissions are needed for the world to be on track to meet global temperature goals. Asia-Pacific countries have a critical role in emissions reduction given their large and rising share in global emissions. This paper discusses the main opportunities and behavioral responses for reducing emissions, and commonly used mitigation instruments. It then considers key design issues for carbon pricing, with a focus on emissions trading schemes (ETS), describes measures to overcome the obstacles to carbon pricing, and discusses experiences with carbon pricing relevant for Asia-Pacific economies. Lastly, the paper covers complementary policy reforms, including reinforcing mitigation instruments, public investment, fuel tax reform, green industrial policies, and supporting reforms to the energy sector. Carbon pricing, including ETSs can be the centerpiece of climate mitigation strategies for most countries, particularly if ETSs are designed to mimic some of the administrative and economic attractions of carbon taxes and implemented appropriately.
July 19, 2024
From Adoption to Innovation: State-Dependent Technology Policy in Developing Countries
Description: Should policymakers in developing countries prioritize foreign technology adoption over domestic innovation? How might this depend on development stages? Using historical technology transfer data from Korea, we find that greater productivity gaps with foreign firms correlate with faster productivity growth after adoption, despite lower fees. Furthermore, non-adopters increased patent citations to foreign sellers, suggesting knowledge spillovers. Motivated by these findings, we build a two-country growth model with innovation and adoption. As the gaps narrow, productivity gains and spillovers from adoption diminish and foreign sellers strategically raise fees due to intensified competition, which renders adoption subsidies less effective. Korea’s shift from adoption to innovation subsidies substantially contributed to growth and welfare. We also explore the optimal policy and its interaction with import tariffs.
July 12, 2024
A Suggested Medium-Term Fiscal Framework for Guyana
Description: Guyana is growing rapidly, and fiscal policy plays a critical role in ensuring that the country’s wealth is managed effectively and equitably. The paper analyzes crucial elements of a comprehensive fiscal policy framework, anchored on a medium-term fiscal framework, that would help in balancing several, and sometimes competing, fiscal policy objectives common to natural resource rich developing countries.
July 12, 2024
Nowcasting and Near-Term Forecasting Cambodia’s Economy
Description: Assessing the current state of the economy and forecast the economic outlook in the next few quarters are important inputs for policymakers. This paper presents a suite of models with an integrated approach to forecast Cambodia’s economy in the current and next few quarters. First, we estimate historical quarterly GDP using information extracted from high-frequency indicators to construct quarterly nowcasting model. Second, we forecast current economic activities using a high-frequency data such as credit, export, tourist arrival, foreign reserves, and trading partner’s GDP. Third, we present inflation forecasting models for Cambodia. Fourth, the paper present a vector autoregression model to forecast Cambodia’s GDP in the next few quarters using global forecasts of China’s and US’s economy as well as oil and rice price. This paper showcase how high-frequency data set can be utilized in assessing current economic activities in countries with limited and lagged data.