Paul Klein

Using the generalized Schur form to solve a multivariate linear rational expectations model

In this paper, I show how to use the generalized Schur form to solve a system of linear expectational difference equations (a multivariate linear rational expectations model). The method is simple to understand and to use, and is applicable to a large class of rational expectations models. The only hard part is taken care of by just two standard algorithms, both of which are available as freeware on the Internet as part of LAPACK. Like other matrix decomposition based methods, it is also very fast to execute.

Stochastic Fiscal Policy and the Swedish Business Cycle

In this paper we show that fluctuations in distortive taxes can account for some of the key features of the Swedish post-war business cycle. The empirical fit of a simple stochastic growth model is significantly improved when it is amended to include imperfectly predictable fluctuations in payroll taxes, consumption taxes, and government consumption. Indeed, using the simulated method of moments, SMM, we find that, for large sets of conventional moments, models with stochastic fiscal policy cannot be statistically rejected, whereas a model without it is always rejected.

TFP Differences and the Aggregate Effects of Labor Mobility in the Long Run

The coexistence of barriers to labor mobility with large output-per-worker disparities driven by Total Factor Productivity (TFP) differences suggests that the worlds labor force is misallocated across countries. We investigate the extent and consequences of this potential misallocation in the context of a simple two-location growth model, in which production requires capital, labor and an essential immobile factor (land). We characterize the magnitude of labor movements implied by an efficient long-run allocation, and derive their implications for capital accumulation. Quantitatively, even for moderate TFP differences, we find substantial increases in world output associated with efficient allocations. These output increases are driven by large movements of labor from low to high TFP countries, as well as by a sizeable increase in the capital stock and changes in its endogenous division across countries. Our results are robust to a large set of parameter values, including unrealistically conservative ones.

Optimal Time-Consistent Taxation with International Mobility Of Capital

The United States relies for its government revenues more on the taxation of capital relative to the taxation of labor than countries in continental Europe do. In this paper we ask what can account for this. Our approach is to look at Markov perfect equilibria of a two-country growth model where both governments use labor, capital and corporate taxes to finance exogenously given streams of public expenditure under period-by-period balanced budget constraints. There is no commitment technology and the equilibrium policies are time-consistent. We find that differences in productivity, size, and government spending can account for the heavy American reliance on capital taxation.

PREANNOUNCED OPTIMAL TAX REFORM

In constitutional democracies, laws take time to be deliberated upon, to be passed, and to be implemented. Motivated by this observation, we study the properties of optimal tax reform when it has to be announced in advance of its implementation. We find that a delay between announcement and implementation has large effects on the optimal fiscal policy during the transition to the new steady state. On the other hand, we find that the welfare gains from optimal tax reform are fairly robust to the introduction of an implementation lag. Increasing the lag from zero to four years reduces the welfare gains by less than a quarter. Moreover, it turns out that this reduction of the welfare gain is mainly due to the delay itself rather than the effect of preannouncement on the character of the optimal tax reform.

Tax distortions in Sweden and the United States

We calculate the welfare costs of distortionary taxation (including inflation) in models calibrated for the United States and Sweden. The welfare costs are calculated using comparative steady state as well as dynamic analysis, where we take the costs of transition from the distorted to the optimal steady state into account. We also calculate the welfare costs of adding stochastic fluctuations. Our main finding is that the total welfare costs of the distortionary taxes including the distortionary effects of inflation are about five times higher in Sweden than in the United States. Meanwhile, stochastic fluctuations in policy turn out to have a relatively small impact on welfare.

Consumption Risk Sharing with Private Information and Limited Enforcement

In this paper, we study consumption risk sharing when individual income shocks are persistent and not publicly observable, and individuals can default on contracts at the price of financial autarky. We find that, in contrast to a model where the only friction is limited enforcement, our model has observable implications that are similar to those of an Aiyagari (1994) self-insurance model and therefore broadly consistent with empirical observations. However, some of the implied effects of changes in policy or the economic environment are noticeably different in our model compared to self-insurance.

ACCOUNTING FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MONEY AND INTEREST RATES

In time series from the United States, the relationship between the money to income ratio and the nominal interest rate is a negative and stable one. In Swedish data, there is no such stable relationship. In this paper, we argue that this difference can be explained by the differences in the shock processes that have hit the two countries. Using a dynamic general equilibrium model driven by shock processes estimated to fit the two countries, we find that we can account for the main properties of the data remarkably well.