Joscha Beckmann

Interest Rate Pass-Through in the EMU: New Evidence from Nonlinear Cointegration Techniques for Fully Harmonized Data

This study puts the monetary transmission process in the eurozone between 2003 and 2011 under closer scrutiny. For this purpose, we investigate the interest rate pass-through from money market to various loan rates for up to twelve countries of the European Monetary Union. Applying different cointegration techniques, we first test for a long-run relationship between loan rates and the Euro OverNight Index Average (EONIA). Based on these findings, we allow for different nonlinear patterns for short-run dynamics of loan rates. Our investigation contributes to the literature in mainly two ways. On the one hand, we use fully harmonized data stemming from the ECBs MFI interest rate statistics. In addition, we consider smooth transition models as an extension of conventional threshold models. Our results point to considerable differences in the size of the pass-through with respect to either different loan rates or countries. In the majority of cases, the pass-through is incomplete and the dynamics of loans adjustment are different for reductions and hikes of money market rates.

Is there a homogeneous causality pattern between oil prices and currencies of oil importers and exporters

Although the link between oil prices and dollar exchange rates has been frequently analyzed, a clear distinction between prices and nominal exchange rate dynamics and a clarification of the issue of causality has not been provided. In addition, previous studies have mostly neglected nonlinearities which for example may stem from exogenous oil price shocks. Using monthly data for various oil-exporting and oil-importing countries, this study contributes to the clarification of those issues. We discriminate between long-run and time-varying short-run dynamics, using a Markov-switching vector error correction model. In terms of causality, the results differ between the economies under observation but suggest that the most important causality runs from exchange rates to oil prices, with a depreciation of the dollar triggering an increase in oil prices. On the other hand, changes in nominal oil prices are responsible for ambiguous real exchange rate effects mostly through the price differential and partly also through a direct influence on the nominal exchange rate. Overall, the fact that the adjustment pattern frequently differs between regimes underlines the fact that the relationships are subject to changes over time, suggesting that nonlinearities are an important issue when analyzing oil prices and exchange rates.

Cross-section dependence and the monetary exchange rate model – A panel analysis

This paper tackles the issue of cross-section dependence for the monetary exchange rate model in the presence of unobserved common factors using panel data from 1973 until 2007 for 19 OECD countries. Applying a principal component analysis we distinguish between common factors and idiosyncratic components and determine whether non-stationarity stems from international or national stochastic trends. We find evidence for a cross-section cointegration relationship between the exchange rates and fundamentals which is driven by those common international trends. In addition, the estimated coefficients of income and money are in line with the suggestions of the monetary model.

The Importance of Global Shocks for National Policymakers – Rising Challenges for Sustainable Monetary Policies

This paper analyses the importance of global shocks for the global economic developments and national policymakers from a novel perspective. On the one hand, we examine whether global factors convey additional information about monetary conditions not summarised by national aggregates. More specifically, we keep an eye on the question whether domestic monetary policies have become less effective in the wake of financial globalisation. We adopt a FAVAR framework to derive structural shocks on a worldwide level and their impact on other global and also national variables. We estimate our macromodel using quarterly data from Q1 1984 to Q4 2012 for the G7 countries plus the euro area. According to our results, global liquidity shocks significantly influence the global economy at the commodity price level. However, some other common shocks originating from house prices and GDP play a role at the global level as well.

Nonlinear adjustment, purchasing power parity and the role of nominal exchange rates and prices

Although the literature on purchasing power parity (PPP) is rich in controversy, the relative contribution of prices and nominal exchange rates to real exchange rate movements which restore PPP disequilibria has rarely been put under any close scrutiny. This paper as a first step applies a cointegrated VAR framework to test for stationary real exchange rates and linear adjustments in prices and nominal exchange rates. As a second step, ESTR error correction models are fitted to test whether nonlinear error correctional behaviour characterizes the data. The results clearly indicate that the nominal exchange rate is responsible for the nonlinear mean reverting behaviour in real exchange rates and also mainly drives overall adjustment. Applying dynamic stochastic simulations based on the estimated models, this study also confirms recent results that the half-life times of real exchange rate shocks are significantly smaller than the consensus benchmark of 3–5 years.

The forward pricing function of industrial metal futures – evidence from cointegration and smooth transition regression analysis

The prices of internationally traded metals have experienced wild swings and increased volatility in recent years. The relationship between spot and futures prices is an important topic in this context, as the current period’s price of a futures contract should be an unbiased estimator of next period’s spot price under the joint assumption of risk neutrality and rationality. Taking as a basis data from the Dow Jones UBS Commodity Index, which uses metals traded on the London Metal Exchange and US exchanges, this study adopts nonlinear smooth transition models to analyze whether the forward spread is a leading indicator of future spot price movements. Our findings suggest that such a price discovery function can in most cases only be identified in periods of low volatility or small previous spreads. Moreover, the underlying dynamics are captured best by the use of a logistic transition function.

Oil price and FX-rates dependency

Oil prices and exchange rates against the dollar have both experienced long swings over the recent decade. Regardless of the great amount of research, some issues are still open to debate. In this vein, this paper focuses on the evolution of the relationship between oil prices and dollar exchange rates of 12 oil exporting and oil importing countries based on a dynamic copula approach. We use daily data for two 5-year periods between 2003 and 2013, taking the collapse of Lehman Brothers as the dividing point. Our results have four main implications: first, the intensity of relationship between oil prices and FX-rates has increased over time even if the peak of the financial crisis is included. Second, the increased tail dependency shows that extreme events are likelier to occur simultaneously for both series. Third, the dependency has become more dynamic after the financial crisis and is therefore better characterized by time-varying copulas. Finally, currencies of oil importers and oil exporters display a different dependency structure against the US dollar in the case of rising oil prices with the latter appreciating and the former depreciating.

Gold Price Forecasts in a Dynamic Model Averaging Framework – Have the Determinants Changed Over Time?

The price of gold is influenced by a wide range of local and global factors such as commodity prices, interest rates, inflation expectations, exchange rate changes and stock market volatility among others. Hence, forecasting the price of gold is a notoriously difficult task and the main problem a researcher faces is to select the relevant regressors at each point in time. This combination of model and parameter uncertainty is explicitly accounted for by Dynamic Model Averaging which allows both the forecasting model and the coefficients to change over time. Based on this framework, we systematically evaluate a large set of possible gold price determinants and use both the predictive likelihood and the mean squared error as a measure of the forecasting performance. We carefully assess which predictors are relevant for forecasting at different points in time through the posterior probability. Our findings show that (1) DMA improves forecasts compared to other frameworks and (2) provides clear evidence for the time-variation of gold price predictors.

Does Gold Act as a Hedge or a Safe Haven for Stocks

This study deals with the issue whether gold actually exhibits the function of a hedge or a safe haven as often referred to in the media and academia. In order to test the Baur and Lucey [2010] hypotheses, we contribute to the existing literature by the augmentation of their model to a smooth transition regression (STR) using an exponential transition function which splits the regression model into two extreme regimes. One accounts for periods in which stock returns are on average and therefore allows to test whether gold acts as a hedge for stocks, the other one accounts for periods characterized by extreme market conditions where the volatility of the stock returns is high. The latter state enables us to test whether gold can be regarded as a safe haven for stocks. The study includes a broad set of 18 individual markets as well as five regional indices and covers a sample period running from January 1970 to March 2012 on a monthly frequency. Overall, our fi ndings show that gold serves as a hedge and a safe haven. However, this ability seems to be market-specific. In addition, by applying a portfolio analysis we also show that our findings are useful for investors.

The relevance of international spillovers and asymmetric effects in the Taylor rule

Deviations of policy interest rates from the levels implied by the Taylor rule have been persistent before the financial crisis and increased especially after the turn of the century. Compared to the Taylor benchmark, policy rates were often too low. This paper provides evidence that both international spillovers, for instance international dependencies in the interest rate setting of central banks, and nonlinear reaction patterns can offer a more realistic specification of the Taylor rule in the main industrial countries. The inclusion of international spillovers and, even more, nonlinear dynamics improves the explanatory power of standard Taylor reaction functions. Deviations from Taylor rates tend to be smaller and their negative trend can be eliminated.