Aaron N. Mehrotra

A Note on the National Contributions to Euro Area M3

We examine developments in national contributions to euro area M3 for a sample of nine euro area countries during 1999-2005.We investigate the co-movements of national contributions with euro area M3 and discuss possible reasons for divergencies in growth rates of national contributions.Finally, we evaluate the information content of national contributions to M3 using formal tests of causality between monetary aggregates, consumer prices and equity prices. Key words: national contribution, M3, euro area JEL classification numbers: E51, E31

McCallum Rule and Chinese Monetary Policy

This paper evaluates the usefulness of a McCallum monetary policy rule based on money supply for maintaining price stability in mainland China. We examine whether excess money relative to rulebased values provides information that improves the forecasting of price developments. The results suggest that our monetary variable helps in predicting both consumer and corporate goods price inflation, but the results for consumer prices depend on the forecasting period. Nevertheless, growth of the Chinese monetary base has tracked the McCallum rule quite closely. Moreover, results using a structural vector autoregression suggest that our measure of excess money supply could be used to identify monetary policy shocks in the Chinese economy

The Economic Transmission of Fiscal Policy Shocks from Western to Eastern Europe

This paper studies the transmission of a foreign fiscal policy shock (assumed to be generated in Germany) to key macroeconomic variables in five Central and Eastern European economies (CEE-5). We use quarterly data from 1995 to 2009 and estimate an open economy structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model identified by imposing reasonable restrictions on contemporaneous responses in the system. Our model is able to identify well-known episodes of fiscal policy action in the countries under review. We find that a foreign fiscal shock affects domestic fiscal variables and vice versa, highlighting the importance of cross-country coordination of fiscal policies within the EU. All the CEE-5 respond to a fiscal expansion abroad with fiscal easing at home (more strongly on the public spending than on the revenue side). We find negative cross-border fiscal spillovers for Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while in Poland and Hungary, output reacts positively to a fiscal expansion in Germany. For domestic fiscal shocks, which we also explore, we find Keynesian responses in Hungary and Slovakia, while non-Keynesian responses are present in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia. Our results imply that one-size-fits-all policy recommendations would be too simplistic for the CEE-5; a deeper understanding of the reasons for cross-country differences in response to fiscal shocks is required to be able to provide adequate information to policymakers in these countries. Keywords: fiscal policy, cross-border spillovers, fiscal multiplier, foreign shock, structural vector autoregression, Central and Eastern Europe, Germany JEL classification: C54, E62, H2, H5, P2

Real Exchange Rate, Output and Oil: Case of Four Large Energy Producers

We assess the effects of oil price shocks on real exchange rate and output in four large energy-producing countries: Iran, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, and Russia. We estimate four-variable structural vector autoregressive models using standard long-run restrictions. Not surprisingly, we find that higher real oil prices are associated with higher output. However, we also find that supply shocks are by far the most important driver of real output in all four countries, possibly due to ongoing transition and catching-up. Similarly, oil shocks do not account for a large share of movements in the real exchange rate, although they are clearly more significant for Iran and Venezuela than for the other countries.

The impact of Chinese monetary policy shocks on East Asia

We study the effects of Chinese monetary policy shocks on China s major trading partners in East Asia by estimating structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) models for six economies in the region. We find that a monetary expansion in Mainland China leads to an increase in real GDP (temporary) and the price level (permanent) in a number of economies in our sample, most notably in Hong Kong and the Philippines. The impact could result from intertemporal substitution present in a general equilibrium framework which allows for positive domestic impacts of foreign monetary expansions. Our results emphasize the growing importance of China for its neighboring economies and the significance of Chinese shocks for the design of monetary policy in Asian economies. Keywords: monetary policy shocks, Asian production chain, SVAR, East Asia, China, JEL: E52, F42

What Drives Urban Consumption in Mainland China? The Role of Property Price Dynamics

This paper adds to the literature on wealth effects on consumption by disentangling house price effects on consumption for mainland China. In a stochastic modelling framework, the riskiness, rate of increase and persistence of house price movements have different implications for the consumption/housing ratio. We exploit the geographical variation in property prices by using a quarterly city-level panel dataset for the period 1998Q1 – 2009Q4 and rely on a panel error correction model. Overall, the results suggest a significant long run impact of property prices on consumption. They also broadly confirm the predictions from the theoretical model.

Wage and Price Dynamics in a Large Emerging Economy: The Case of China

This study finds that the growth in labour costs in China is not passed through fully to final prices in China, neither in the tradable goods sector nor in the economy as a whole. This probably reflects the strong pressure on profit margins from a highly competitive environment, especially in manufactured goods. The potential implications of labour cost increases in China for global inflation pressures are also discussed.

Wealth Effects and Russian Money Demand

We examine wealth effects for Russian money demand in a cointegrated vector autoregressive framework. We find that an aggregate wealth variable, as well as the components housing and equity prices included separately, significantly enter the long-run money demand relationship. There are feedback effects from money to wealth. However, the remonetization process lead to high income elasticities even when wealth is included in the model. System instability coincides with the arrival of the global financial crisis in late 2008.

Changing Economic Structures and Impacts of Shocks - Evidence from a DSGE Model for China

We construct a small-scale dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model that features price rigidities, habit formation in consumption and costs in capital adjustment, and calibrate the model with data for the Chinese economy. Our interest centers on the impact of technology and monetary policy shocks for different structures of the Chinese economy. In particular, we evaluate how a rebalancing of the economy from investment-led to consumption-led growth would affect the economic dynamics after a shock occurs. Our findings suggest that a rebalancing would reduce the volatility of the real economy in the event of a technology shock, which provides support for policies aiming to increase the consumption share in China.

Financial Settlement Modes and Corruption: Evidence from Developed Nations

Using recent pooled data from several developed nations, the paper uniquely examines whether the composition of payment instruments has a bearing on the prevalence of corruption in a country. Our results suggest that the choice of instruments matters. Paper credit transfer transactions are consistently associated with corrupt activities, while credit card transactions tend to reduce them. Cheques generally increase corruption, the results with respect to nonpaper credit transfers are mixed, while direct debits fail to show significant effects on corruption. These findings hold for alternative corruption measures and when allowance is made for endogeneity of payment instruments.