Nicholas Apergis

An Examination of Okun's Law: Evidence from Regional Areas in Greece

This paper estimates Okuns coefficient for certain regional areas in Greece over the period 1960–1997. Through the Hodrick-Prescott filtering and the band-pass filtering the empirical analysis shows that that the coefficients do not exhibit substantial interregional differences, except for the cases of Epirus and North Aegean Islands. In these two cases, the estimates are larger than the regional average under both detrending methodologies. The empirical findings also show that Okuns relationship undergoes a structural change in 1981. After this break, unemployment becomes less responsive to output changes in all regional areas.

The Electricity Consumption-Growth Nexus: Renewable Versus Non-Renewable Electricity in Central America

Abstract This study investigates the Granger-causal relationship between renewable and non-renewable electricity consumption and economic growth in the case of Central America within a panel error correction model framework. Larsson et al. (2001) panel cointegration test reveals a long-run equilibrium relationship between real gross domestic product, renewable electricity consumption, non-renewable electricity consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force. With the exception of renewable electricity consumption, the respective long-run coefficient estimates are positive and statistically significant. The results from the panel error correction model indicate unidirectional causality from renewable electricity consumption to economic growth in the short-run, but bidirectional causality in the long-run. The results also indicate bidirectional causality between non-renewable electricity consumption and economic growth in both the short-run and long-run.

Interest rates, inflation, and stock prices: the case of the Athens Stock Exchange

Abstract This study undertakes an empirical effort to investigate the relationship between stock prices, inflation, and interest rates in Greece over the period 1988–1999. Considering that most of the period under examination has been characterised by declining inflation as well as interest rates, it is crucial for an investor to know whether stock prices follow inflation rather than interest rate movements. The results provide evidence in favour of the stock prices–inflation relationship.

Economic Freedom And Income Inequality Revisited: Evidence From A Panel Error Correction Model

We investigate the causal relationship between income inequality and economic freedom using data from U.S. states over the period 1981 to 2004 within a panel error correction model framework. The results indicate bidirectional causality between income inequality and economic freedom in both the short and the long run. These results suggest that high income inequality may cause states to implement redistributive policies causing economic freedom to decline. As economic freedom declines, income inequality rises even more. In other words, it is quite possible for a state to get caught in a vicious circle of high income inequality and heavy redistribution.

Stock returns and volatility: Evidence from the Athens Stock market index

This paper investigates the volatility of the Athens Stock excess stock returns over the period 1990–1999 through the comparison of various conditional hetero-skedasticity models. The empirical results indicate that there is significant evidence for asymmetry in stock returns, which is captured by a quadratic GARCH specification model, while there is strong persistence of shocks into volatility.

The Feldstein-Horioka puzzle and exchange rate regimes: Evidence from cointegration tests

Abstract Many economists specialized in international finance claim that international capital markets are highly integrated (at least during the flexible exchange rate era). The main consequence of the above claim is that there is no longer any close relationship between investment and savings decisions. In other words, the close link between savings and investment ceases to exist under perfect capital mobility. Therefore, we construct a general equilibrium optimization model that is capable of generating artificial (model) data for savings and investment. Then, using the methodology of cointegration testing on these artificial data, we test whether there exists or not any link between savings and investment. The test is implemented between two different exchange rate regimes, that is, that of the Bretton Woods and that of the floating or flexible exchange rate regime. The results from the empirical analysis provide support for integrated capital markets over the second exchange rate era in the case of the United States of America.

Renewable Energy, Output, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Oil Prices: Evidence from South America

This study utilizes panel cointegration techniques to estimate the long-run relationship as well as the causal dynamics between renewable energy consumption per capita, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, carbon dioxide emissions per capita, and real oil prices for a panel of 11 South American countries over the period 1980 to 2010. Specifically, we find the long-run elasticity estimates are positive and statistically significant with respect to real GDP per capita, carbon emissions per capita, and real oil prices. The results of the panel error correction model reveal a feedback relationship among the variables in question, indicative of the importance of renewable energy consumption in both the growth of output and the containment of carbon dioxide emissions.

ARCH effects and cointegration: Is the foreign exchange market efficient?

Abstract Extensive empirical work has produced mixed evidence regarding the validity of the unbiased efficient expectations hypothesis in the foreign exchange market. Empirical analysis in this paper, via cointegration techniques, produces the same inconclusive results for three currency markets, namely, the FFR/

Cost structure, technological change, and productivity growth in the greek banking sector

US, the DM/

Food Price Volatility and Macroeconomic Factors: Evidence from GARCH and GARCH-X Estimates

US and the Yen/