Working Papers
2008
December 1, 2008
Explaining Episodes of Growth Accelerations, Decelerations, and Collapses in Western Africa
Description: The growth literature has had problems explaining the "sub-Saharan African growth dummy" in cross-country regressions. Instead of taking the usual approach of focusing on long-run growth and assuming that sub-Saharan countries have homogenous parameters in growth regressions, we concentrate our analysis on episodes of growth turnarounds (identifying growth accelerations, decelerations, and collapses) and use only West African countries in our sample. The driving force of growth turnarounds are estimated by analyzing external shocks, political and institutional changes, economic reforms, and indicators particularly relevant to the region. Using probits for a group of 22 Western African economies for the period 1960-2006, we find that growth accelerations are most clearly associated with external shocks, economic liberalization, political stability, and closeness to the coast; decelerations occurred during short-lived regimes and when corruption indices weakened; and collapses are linked to external shocks, falling domestic credit, and proximity to the coast. We then identify policy implications.
December 1, 2008
The Impact of Introducing a Minimum Wage on Business Cycle Volatility: A Structural Analysis for Hong Kong SAR
Description: We study the impact of a minimum wage on business cycle volatility, depending upon its coverage and adjustment mechanism. As with other small open economies, Hong Kong SAR is vulnerable to external shocks, with its exchange rate regime precluding active monetary policy. Adjustment to past shocks has relied on flexible domestic prices. We find that a minimum wage affecting 20 percent of employees would amplify output volatility by 0.2 percent to 9.2 percent, and employment volatility by ?1.2 percent to 7.8 percent. A fixed wage or indexation to consumption price inflation increases volatility most. Indexation to wage inflation or unit labor cost growth is preferable, largely preserving labor market flexibility.
December 1, 2008
Can Regional Cross-listings Accelerate Stock Market Development? Empirical Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
Description: This study analyzes the impact of regional cross-listing of stocks on the depth of the stock markets in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It analyzes data from 1990 to 2007 for a panel of 13 stock markets in SSA countries, only some of which have regional cross-listings. Using event study methodology, the paper finds significant positive effects in measures of stock market depth around regional cross-listing events. Overall, growth in the regional crosslisting of stocks facilitates stock market deepening, and the stock markets of countries with regional cross-listings perform better than those without. The study thus suggests that SSA countries can benefit from putting in place the necessary conditions for promoting regional cross-listings and thereby deepening their stock markets. These include sound legal and regulatory frameworks, macroeconomic and political stability, harmonization of listing rules, accounting laws and disclosure requirements across the region, and strong money markets.
December 1, 2008
A Small Quarterly Multi-Country Projection Model with Financial-Real Linkages and Oil Prices
Description: This is the third of a series of papers that are being written as part of a larger project to estimate a small quarterly Global Projection Model (GPM). The GPM project is designed to improve the toolkit for studying both own-country and cross-country linkages. In this paper, we estimate a small quarterly projection model of the US, Euro Area, and Japanese economies that incorporates oil prices and allows us to trace out the effects of shocks to oil prices. The model is estimated with Bayesian techniques. We show how the model can be used to construct efficient baseline forecasts that incorporate judgment imposed on the near-term outlook.
December 1, 2008
From Crisis to IMF-Supported Program: Does democracy impede the speed required by financial markets?
Description: Has the spread of democracy and political participation impeded the need for speed required by financial markets and the elevated threat of contagion across borders? We examine the time span between the onset of a financial crisis and the agreement on an IMF-supported adjustment program. This span appears to have decreased over time. More precisely, we find that the time from a crisis to the approval of a program has been smaller the more serious the crisis. Importantly, this responsiveness to a widening range of financial vulnerabilities has increased with growing financial integration. Democracies, particularly those with checks and balances, have been sensitive to time pressures.
December 1, 2008
Estimating Potential Output and the Output Gap in Slovakia
Description: This paper estimates potential output and the output gap for Slovakia which enjoyed rapid growth with few signs of economic overheating in recent years. It applies two broad sets of approaches: conventional methods, represented by a statistical method and a production function approach; and a multivariate (MV) Kalman filter method. The MV Kalman filter method produces estimates of excess demand that portray much more sensibly the situation in recent years in Slovakia than the conventional methods, because it can use more information to condition the paths of potential output.
December 1, 2008
What Happens During Recessions, Crunches and Busts?
Description: We provide a comprehensive empirical characterization of the linkages between key macroeconomic and financial variables around business and financial cycles for 21 OECD countries over the period 1960–2007. In particular, we analyze the implications of 122 recessions, 112 (28) credit contraction (crunch) episodes, 114 (28) episodes of house price declines (busts), 234 (58) episodes of equity price declines (busts) and their various overlaps in these countries over the sample period. Our results indicate that interactions between macroeconomic and financial variables can play major roles in determining the severity and duration of recessions. Specifically, we find evidence that recessions associated with credit crunches and house price busts tend to be deeper and longer than other recessions. JEL Classification Numbers: E32; E44; E51; F42
December 1, 2008
Inflation Determinants in Paraguay: Cost Push versus Demand Pull Factors
Description: This article uses two analytical methodologies to understand the dynamics of inflation in Paraguay, the mark-up theory of inflation and the monetary theory of inflation. We also study the impact of different monetary aggregates. The results suggest that monetary factors, in particular currency in circulation, play a major role in determining long-run inflation, while foreign prices, in particular from Brazil, or some food products have a large impact on the short-term dynamics of inflation. Wage indexation may also contribute to locking up price increases.
December 1, 2008
Efficiency and Performance of Bulgarian Private Pensions
Description: This paper analyzes the performance of the Bulgarian private defined contribution pensions in the second and third pillars of the pension system.
December 1, 2008
Macroeconomics of Migration in New Member States
Description: This paper examines the macroeconomic impact of migration on income convergence in the EU's New Member States (NMS). The paper focuses on cross-border mobility of labor and examines the implications for policymakers with the help of a general equilibrium model. It finds that cross-border labor mobility provides ample benefits in terms of faster and smoother convergence. Challenges, however, include containing wage pressures and better mobilizing and utilizing resident labor that does not cross borders.