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In a 2019 article published in this journal, Kyer and Maggs examined the frequency and characteristics of double-dip recessions and multi-dip recessions for 21 countries during the 1960:1 to 2014:4 period. A review of Kyer and Maggs generated a number of questions about a particular feature of their business cycle dating methodology. Specifically, they determined that a recession ends once real gross domestic product returns to or exceeds the previous peak level of real gross domestic product. To demonstrate the impact this nontraditional feature of their methodology has on their results and conclusions, this paper repeats their analysis where, in contrast to Kyer and Maggs, it is assumed that a recession ends once the economy reaches the trough quarter in a business cycle. The application of this more traditional feature of business cycle dating methodology to the same countries and sample period yields results that do not support their conclusions about either the frequency of double-dip recessions or the number of countries in their sample that experienced multi-dip recessions. This paper first shows that double-dip recessions represent just 7.2% of all recessions and, therefore, are not as common as Kyer and Maggs reported. Second, only five of the 21 countries experienced recessions with two or more additional dips in economic activity over the entire sample period. Finally, only six countries experienced a multi-dip recession during the Great Recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty shocks are found to affect labour market outcomes adversely. Most studies interrelate non-convex labour adjustment costs with the propagation of macroeconomic uncertainty to the labour market. I show that non-convex labour adjustment costs differ by establishment size in Germany. Hence, uncertainty shocks should affect large and small establishments differently. Therefore, this article studies the effects of uncertainty shocks on employment adjustments in large and small establishments employing four structural vector auto-regressive models for Germany from 1992 to 2014. These four models estimate the effects of uncertainty shocks on employment, worker flows, job flows, as well as worker churn in establishments with fewer than 100 and with at least 100 employees. The results suggest that uncertainty shocks trigger considerable employment fluctuations in large establishments while they barely affect small establishments. Furthermore, large establishments adjust their labour input by delaying the replacement of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I develop a two-country new Keynesian general equilibrium model with housing and collateral constraints to explore how macroprudential policies should be conducted in a heterogeneous monetary union. I consider several types of cross-country heterogeneity: asymmetric shocks, different leveraged countries, and mortgage contract heterogeneity (fixed and variable rates). As a macroprudential tool, I propose a Taylor-type rule for the loan-to-value ratio, which responds to deviations in output and house prices. This policy can be applied at a national or union level. Results show that structural asymmetries matter for the implementation of macroprudential policies, especially when the heterogeneity delivers differences in economic and financial volatilities. It seems then adequate to delegate macroprudential policies to national authorities. However, a supranational institution could also help stabilize the whole union when there are asymmetric shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ben Bernanke and Charles Kindleberger both studied financial crises. One interpretation in monetary macroeconomics associates them over their endorsement of the credit view as opposed to the money view. We suggest another interpretation and compare their contributions on financial crises more closely. This comparison makes all the more sense as the two authors were engaged in a discussion that the literature has not studied in depth, but that forms the Ariadne's thread of our investigation. We show that the difference did not so much concern the distinction between rationality and irrationality hypothesis, or between policy and market failure, as the distinction between exogeneity and endogeneity of financial crises. Bernanke rested on the assumption of any kind of exogenous shocks and studied their effects on credit intermediation, whereas Kindleberger analysed credit intermediation throughout the financial cycle and pointed out the causes of financial crises as the culmination of the endogenous process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the interactions between housing, the credit market, and the ECB's asset purchase program (APP) from 2015 until 2020 and then in the course of the ECB's pandemic emergency purchase program (PEPP) in 2020. The model is calibrated for the euro area. The findings illustrate the way in which macrohousing channels affect bank portfolio rebalancing which is the main channel for asset purchases to influence the economy. The results show that asset purchasing performs better during a crisis, particularly if it is conducted for an appropriate extent of time. The findings suggest that the PEPP alone is not sufficient to accelerate recovery. As a result, further actions such as timely targeted fiscal policies are required to step up recovery. However, to protect the financial sector, the PEPP should be extended until the Covid-19 crisis phase is over. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop an AK model augmented in two directions: first, by modeling nature as a productive externality, and, second, by considering a process of natural capital accumulation where a reproduction force is moderated by the negative impact of productive pollution. Differently from the existing literature, more focused on the planner's solution, we study here a market economy and the effects of its imperfections. We introduce two alternative natural accumulation processes: a power law, more usual in economics, and a logistic law, more popular in ecology. In both cases, we observe the occurrence of cycles of period two and of period a power of two, and chaos through a flip bifurcation and period-doubling bifurcations. In the case of the power law, dynamics are even richer because of the occurrence of limit cycles through a Neimark-Sacker bifurcation. Worth to note, in this case, cycles occur under a larger Total Factor Productivity, which amplifies the negative impact of pollution on natural regeneration. In the case of a logistic law, cycles take place when the saturation effect of nature has a larger negative impact on the reproduction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use supervised machine learning to approximate the expectations typically contained in the optimality conditions of an economic model in the spirit of the parameterized expectations algorithm (PEA) with stochastic simulation. When the set of state variables is generated by a stochastic simulation, it is likely to suffer from multicollinearity. We show that a neural network‐based expectations algorithm can deal efficiently with multicollinearity by extending the optimal debt management problem studied by Faraglia, Marcet, Oikonomou, and Scott (2019) to four maturities. We find that the optimal policy prescribes an active role for the newly added medium‐term maturities, enabling the planner to raise financial income without increasing its total borrowing in response to expenditure shocks. Through this mechanism, the government effectively subsidizes the private sector during recessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most popular measures of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) is an index based on newspapers coverage of particular keywords. The constructed index is often then included in vector autoregression (VAR) models to examine the extent to which EPU affects economic activity. Researchers, however, have not investigated how the possibility of fractional integration in this index may affect the results. Under fractional integration, the effects of EPU on output in a standard VAR setting may be biased. After confirming that all EPU series posted in policyuncertainty.com are fractionally integrated processes, I estimate a fractionally cointegrated VAR (FCVAR) model to evaluate the dynamic effects of EPU. Likelihood ratio tests indicate that fractional cointegration cannot be rejected at low lag orders. In addition, I investigate the effect of EPU on output after applying various filters to remove the long-memory component. While I still find that EPU imparts a negative effect on output, relative to Baker et al. (2016)'s results, the effects tend to be smaller in magnitude. Treating long memory, therefore, is important for accurate estimation of the dynamic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a widespread interest among institutions and economic agents for a reduction of the environmental impact of the production system. An important role seems to be played by the ability of public institutions to push the transition toward a green economy also through the application of fiscal policies that envisage a system of rewards and penalties, respectively, for those companies which adopt green strategies and those which do not. It is clear that readjusting older production systems to new pollution regulations can lead in the short term to profitability reductions for the companies implementing them, even though it is possible to assume increases in profitability over medium-long time horizons. One possible approach to this issue is the classical econometric one, which analyzes the effect of different parameters of multivariate models, that influence the level of pollution due to production systems with different propensity for environmental protection. Optimal control models have been also considered with control variables relating to the technologies of production systems and public incentive policies for the green economy: see for example (Tan et al. in J Syst Sci Inf 9(1):61–73, 2021). In recent years, many scholars have studied the relationship between environmental regulation and enterprise technological innovation using evolutionary games, involving mainly economic incentives and fiscal strategies (see see Suyong et al. in Appl Math Comput 355(15):343–355, 2019; Zhang and Li in Appl Math Model 63:577–590, 2018). In our article, we propose a dynamical model where the public administration uses pollution penalties as a control variable in order to push a production sector toward better performances concerning two targets, pollution level and profitability. To this end, we consider the effects of competitiveness among firms and technology innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine stock market shocks using a Global Vector Autoregressive (GVAR) model encompassing 26 countries from January 1999 to June 2022. Our findings reveal that i) shocks originating from advanced economies (AD) exhibit greater persistence in generating fluctuations compared to shocks from emerging market economies (EME); ii) negative stock market shocks are associated with devaluations of domestic currencies, endogenous responses of monetary policy, and global recession. Our estimates suggest that stock market fluctuations have significant potential to destabilize international markets, with contagion spreading rapidly. Our approach contributes to existing literature by constructing a comprehensive model of the world economy, simulating aggregate shocks, and assessing the relevance of global shocks based on the level of economic development.

The paper examines two of the most important sectors of agriculture, crop and livestock production, in a time series analysis. The authors analyzed the number of enterprises, the number of employees, labor costs, turnover, and balance sheet total, and also assessed the evolution of liquidity and profitability in the two sectors, broken down by size.

This article examines the impact of data revisions and data sources on the identification of double-dip recessions (DDR) in the United States (U.S.). The authors discuss the GDP revision process and how it can affect the classification of different types of U.S. recessions. They use the Kyer and Maggs methodology to analyze GDP data from different sources and find that data revisions and sources can influence the identification of DDR. The study also highlights the importance of re-examining past classifications of U.S. recessions based on revised data. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, we collect the annual data of 145 commercial banks in China from 2010 to 2019 and use a panel data fixed-effect model to study how fintech (financial technology) affects the influence of macroeconomic uncertainty on commercial banks' proactive risk-taking. We find that the development of fintech mitigates the dampening effect of macroeconomic uncertainty on commercial banks' proactive risk-taking. Specifically, fintech plays a mitigating role by motivating commercial banks to issue loans and hold transactional financial assets. With the increase of commercial banks’ proactive risk-taking, the mitigation effect of fintech monotonically diminishes. This mitigating effect is heterogeneous across different types of commercial banks, as it is relatively weak for banks with high capital adequacy ratios and large state-owned banks.

We assess the relative importance of fiscal and monetary policy shocks in explaining macroeconomic fluctuations in the United States. Using a Bayesian structural vector autoregressive model, we identify fiscal and monetary policy shocks based on a penalty function approach. We find that monetary policy shocks are relatively more important than fiscal policy shocks in explaining key macroeconomic variations and especially inflation variations. Our results provide evidence in support of a monetarist explanation of US business cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how tax‐and‐transfer progressivity influences aggregate fluctuations when interacting with household heterogeneity. Using a simple static model of the extensive margin labor supply, we analytically characterize how a degree of progressivity influences differential labor supply responses to aggregate conditions across heterogeneous households. We then build a quantitative dynamic general equilibrium model with both idiosyncratic and aggregate productivity shocks and show that it delivers moderately procyclical average labor productivity and a large cyclical volatility of aggregate hours relative to output. Our quantitative exercises suggest that progressivity at the bottom of the income distribution shaped by the phasing out of transfers is key for these findings. Finally, we provide suggestive empirical evidence on the heterogeneity of employment responses across the wage distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this article is to estimate how the spike in oil prices has impacted Saudi Arabia's output and other macroeconomic indicators. To address this question, the study utilizes a simple VAR estimation and VAR estimation with sign restrictions, specifically an oil demand shock and an oil supply shock, to determine the influence of oil price shocks. The study's findings are consistent with conventional wisdom and current research from oil-exporting countries. Consistent with all model specifications for both periods (monthly 2010q1 to 2020q2 and quarterly 1996q1 to 2020q2), the study finds that an oil price shock benefits the Saudi Arabian economy. The results indicate that a 10% increase in oil prices leads to a 2% increase in output, a 0.15 percentage point increase in the consumer price index, a 6% increase in export value, and a 3% increase in import value. The study highlights the importance of considering both oil supply and demand shocks in analyzing the impact of oil price fluctuations and concludes that the demand shock is more influential than the supply shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This is the first empirical study that analyzes the nature of business cycles in India using quarterly GDP growth data from 1998Q1 to 2022Q4 and the Markov Switching Auto-regressive model. In order to capture the impact of exclusion and inclusion of post pandemic period data, it has developed two alternative models. Based on these models, the study provides the forecast of quarterly GDP growth and cumulative real output losses due to the pandemic. It also provides alternative scenarios and trajectories of the Indian economy towards the US$ 5 trillion milestone. It is our hope that these results will be useful to policymakers and other stakeholders to understand the business cycle issue in India and take appropriate strategies to overcome the problems associated with these cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this paper, the author aims to investigate the relationship between economic growth and unemployment in six Arab countries from Middle East and North Africa (MENA) zone including Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan and Oman through the implementation of Okun's law using quarterly dataset covering the time period 2000: 1–2014: 4. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, static and dynamic linear and nonlinear models are used to test the linkage between cyclical unemployment and cyclical growth rate. Findings: The empirical results from considered models confirm an inverse linkage between unemployment rate and economic growth, as the Okun's law suggests (except for Oman). In a nonlinear autoregressive dynamic linear (NARDL) framework and gap specification, statistically significant Okun's coefficients indicate that output growth can be translated into employment gains. Absolute effect of an economic contraction is significantly larger than that of an expansion in Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon. The opposite is true for Jordan and Oman. Practical implications: Empirical finding provides then an additional proof that Okun's law could exist in a developing countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon and Jordan. Hence, any attempt to increase gross domestic product (GDP) through some economic fiscal and/or monetary policies in these countries would reduce unemployment rate. Originality/value: Based on asymmetric specification, the author can conclude with precision that an economic upturn of 3.37, 2.98 and 2.5%, respectively, in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt reduces unemployment by 1%, whilst the downturn of 5.03 and 2.43% (and about 12%), respectively, in Tunisia and Morocco (and Lebanon and Jordan) achieves the opposite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the magnitude and cyclicality of transitions into and out of the labour force, the literature generally considers unemployment as a sufficient statistic of labour market slack. We question this view by jointly estimating natural unemployment and participation rates through a Phillips curve informed by structural labour market flows. Focusing on Italy, a country where flows into and out of the labour force are particularly large, we find that the participation margin accounts for a significant share of total slack and explains one-third of the missing inflation that followed the 2011 Sovereign Debt Crisis. Exploiting a reform that sharply and unexpectedly increased the statutory retirement age and expanded labour supply without directly affecting unemployment, we confirm that neglecting the participation gap biases inflation forecasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an estimated New Keynesian model of a commodity-exporting economy for an integrated policy framework, integrating the full range of policies used in practice and featuring a range of nominal and real rigidities, macro-financial linkages, and transmission channels of external shocks. We jointly examine the optimal conduct of conventional and unconventional monetary policies, macroprudential policy, foreign exchange intervention, capital flow management, and fiscal policy based on the model. The policy analysis framework is applied empirically to Mongolia, a small open and developing economy highly dependent on imports and commodity exports. We find that an eclectic policy mix improves policy trade-offs and a lack of cooperation among policy authorities may result in conflicting policies, hence suboptimal results for overall economic stability. Our optimal policy analysis shows that policy mix adjustments should differ depending on the type of shocks and the policy objectives. The results suggest that the policy analysis framework can help policymakers choose their policy mix adjustments to deal with external shocks in an integrated and optimal way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of studies depart from the rational expectations assumption to reconcile survey expectations with asset prices. While surveys are helpful to establish a link between subjective beliefs and investment decisions, precise inference about how investors depart from rational expectations can be challenging without relying on strong assumptions. In this article, we provide direct experimental evidence of how systematic distortions in investors' expectations affect their risk-taking across market cycles. As mechanism, we identify an asymmetry in how individuals update their expectations across boom and bust markets. The documented mechanism is consistent with survey data and provides important implications for recently proposed asset pricing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the macroeconomic effects of seven key TCJA provisions, including the tax cuts for individuals and businesses, the bonus depreciation of equipment, the amortization of R&D expenses, and the limits on interest deductibility. I use a dynamic general equilibrium model with interest deductibility and accelerated depreciation. I find that, initially, the tax reform had a small positive effect on output and investment. In the medium term, however, the effect on output will diminish, and the effect on investment will turn negative. The tax reform will depress investment in R&D. Government debt will surge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a labor search model with heterogenous households and firms to study the efficacy of a wage subsidy during a pandemic, relative to enhancing unemployment benefits. A large proportion of the economy is forced to shut down, and firms in that sector choose whether to lay off workers or keep them on payroll. A wage subsidy encourages firms to keep workers on payroll, which speeds up labor market recovery after the pandemic ends. However, a wage subsidy can be costlier than enhancing unemployment benefits. If the shutdown is long or profit margins are low, then a wage subsidy is preferable and vice versa. The optimal mixture of policies includes a wage subsidy that covers 90 $\%$ of the first $200/week of earnings and expands unemployment benefits to cover all salary up to $275/week. Low-income workers, as well as those in less productive jobs, benefit the most from a wage subsidy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, political rhetoric implying international trade hinder employment has gained momentum. We argue that the dynamics between the unemployment rate and the current account balance have both economic and political relevance. The presence of cointegration between the unemployment rate and the current account balance to GDP ratio and the nature of their short-run fluctuations will help us analyze the dynamics between the two objectively to evaluate the political rhetoric. We use quarterly data from 1948: Q1 to 2020: Q1 on the unemployment rate and current account balance to GDP ratio in the United States. Traditional cointegration tests fail to detect any cointegration. However, threshold cointegration tests confirm statistical evidence of threshold cointegration between the two. The estimated threshold vector error-correction model shows statistically significant evidence of falling unemployment rate coupled with deteriorating current account balance. This finding indicates that as unemployment rates go down, the current account balance deteriorates to maintain the long-run co-movement. Arguably, as the unemployment rate decline, concurrently imports rise faster than exports causing the current account balance to deteriorate. This finding thereby refutes the political rhetoric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work applies several advanced spectral methods to the analysis of macroeconomic fluctuations in three countries of the European Union: Italy, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. We focus here in particular on singular-spectrum analysis (SSA), which provides valuable spatial and frequency information of multivariate data and that goes far beyond a pure analysis in the time domain. The spectral methods discussed here are well established in the geosciences and life sciences, but not yet widespread in quantitative economics. In particular, they enable one to identify and describe nonlinear trends and dominant cycles | including seasonal and interannual components that characterize the deterministic behavior of each time series. These tools have already proven their robustness in the application on short and noisy data, and we demonstrate their usefulness in the analysis of the macroeconomic indicators of these three countries. We explore several fundamental indicators of the countries' real aggregate economy in a univariate, as well as a multivariate setting. Starting with individual single-channel analysis, we are able to identify similar spectral components among the analyzed indicators. Next, we consider combinations of indicators and countries, in order to take different effects of comovements into account. Since business cycles are cross-national phenomena, which show common characteristics across countries, our aim is to uncover hidden global behavior across the European economies. Results are compared with previous findings on the U.S. indicators (Groth et al., 2012). Finally, the analysis is extended to include several indicators from the U.S. economy, in order to examine its influence on the European market.