We assess the extent to which the great US macroeconomic stability since the mid-1980s can be accounted for by changes in oil shocks and the oil share in GDP. To do this we estimate a DSGE model with an oil-producing sector before and after 1984 and perform counterfactual simulations. We nest two popular explanations for the Great Moderation: (1) smaller (non-oil) real shocks; and (2) better monetary policy. We find that the reduced oil share accounted for as much as one-third of the inflation moderation, and 13% of the growth moderation, while smaller oil shocks accounted for 11% of the inflation moderation and 7% of the growth moderation. This notwithstanding, better monetary policy explains the bulk of the inflation moderation, while most of the growth moderation is explained by smaller TFP shocks.
{"title":"Oil and the Great Moderation","authors":"Anton A. Nakov, Andrea Pescatori","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1025850","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1025850","url":null,"abstract":"We assess the extent to which the great US macroeconomic stability since the mid-1980s\u0000can be accounted for by changes in oil shocks and the oil share in GDP. To do this we\u0000estimate a DSGE model with an oil-producing sector before and after 1984 and perform\u0000counterfactual simulations. We nest two popular explanations for the Great Moderation: (1)\u0000smaller (non-oil) real shocks; and (2) better monetary policy. We find that the reduced oil\u0000share accounted for as much as one-third of the inflation moderation, and 13% of the\u0000growth moderation, while smaller oil shocks accounted for 11% of the inflation moderation\u0000and 7% of the growth moderation. This notwithstanding, better monetary policy explains the\u0000bulk of the inflation moderation, while most of the growth moderation is explained by smaller\u0000TFP shocks.","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79149432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert Solow has criticized our 2006 Journal of Economic Perspectives essay describing "Modern Macroeconomics in Practice." Solow eloquently voices the commonly heard complaint that too much macroeconomic work today starts with a model with a single type of agent. We argue that modern macroeconomics may not end too far from where Solow prefers. He is also critical of how modern macroeconomists use data to construct models. Specifically, he seems to think that calibration is the only way that our models encounter data. To the contrary, we argue that modern macroeconomics uses a wide variety of empirical methods and that this big-tent approach has served macroeconomics well. Solow also questions our claim that modern macroeconomics is firmly grounded in economic theory. We disagree and explain why.
{"title":"The Heterogeneous State of Modern Macroeconomics: A Reply to Solow","authors":"V. Chari, P. Kehoe","doi":"10.3386/W13655","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/W13655","url":null,"abstract":"Robert Solow has criticized our 2006 Journal of Economic Perspectives essay describing \"Modern Macroeconomics in Practice.\" Solow eloquently voices the commonly heard complaint that too much macroeconomic work today starts with a model with a single type of agent. We argue that modern macroeconomics may not end too far from where Solow prefers. He is also critical of how modern macroeconomists use data to construct models. Specifically, he seems to think that calibration is the only way that our models encounter data. To the contrary, we argue that modern macroeconomics uses a wide variety of empirical methods and that this big-tent approach has served macroeconomics well. Solow also questions our claim that modern macroeconomics is firmly grounded in economic theory. We disagree and explain why.","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83350015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We construct a vintage capital model in which worker skills lie along a continuum and workers can be paired with dierent vintages (as tech- nology evolves) under a matching rule of "best worker with the best machine". Labor reallocation in response to technology shocks has two key implications for the wage premium. First, it limits both the magnitude and duration of change in the wage premium following a (permanent) embodied technology shock, so empirically plausible shocks do not lead to the kind of increases in the wage premium observed in the U.S. during the 1980s and early 1990s (though an increase in labor force heterogeneity does). Second, positive dis- embodied technology shocks tend to push up the wage premium as well, and while this eect
{"title":"Productivity Shocks in a Model with Vintage Capital and Heterogeneous Labor","authors":"Milton H. Marquis, Bharat Trehan","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1007833","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1007833","url":null,"abstract":"We construct a vintage capital model in which worker skills lie along a continuum and workers can be paired with dierent vintages (as tech- nology evolves) under a matching rule of \"best worker with the best machine\". Labor reallocation in response to technology shocks has two key implications for the wage premium. First, it limits both the magnitude and duration of change in the wage premium following a (permanent) embodied technology shock, so empirically plausible shocks do not lead to the kind of increases in the wage premium observed in the U.S. during the 1980s and early 1990s (though an increase in labor force heterogeneity does). Second, positive dis- embodied technology shocks tend to push up the wage premium as well, and while this eect","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85422462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The remarkable decline in macroeconomic volatility experienced by the U.S. economy since the mid-80s (the so-called Great Moderation) has been accompanied by large changes in the patterns of comovements among output, hours and labor productivity. Those changes are re‡ected in both conditional and unconditional second moments as well as in the impulse responses to identi…ed shocks. That evidence points to structural change, as opposed to just good luck, as an explanation for the Great Moderation. We use a simple macro model to suggest some of the immediate sources which are likely to be behind the observed changes.
{"title":"On the Sources of the Great Moderation","authors":"J. Gaĺı, Luca Gambetti","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1003342","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1003342","url":null,"abstract":"The remarkable decline in macroeconomic volatility experienced by the U.S. economy since the mid-80s (the so-called Great Moderation) has been accompanied by large changes in the patterns of comovements among output, hours and labor productivity. Those changes are re‡ected in both conditional and unconditional second moments as well as in the impulse responses to identi…ed shocks. That evidence points to structural change, as opposed to just good luck, as an explanation for the Great Moderation. We use a simple macro model to suggest some of the immediate sources which are likely to be behind the observed changes.","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85635476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-04-01DOI: 10.5089/9781451863550.001
Natalia T. Tamirisa, Hamid Faruqee
This paper simulates the macroeconomic effects of population aging in a dynamic overlapping generations model of a small open economy. The model is calibrated to data for the Czech Republic, where population aging is proceeding at a pace comparable to that in other advanced countries in Europe. Simulations show that population aging is likely to slow economic growth and improvements in living standards. Although reforms to raise labor force participation and productivity growth can mitigate these adverse effects, they are unlikely to eliminate the need for fiscal reforms. The budget will come under pressure from rising age-related expenditures, and consolidation will be needed to preserve debt sustainability.
{"title":"Macroeconomic Effects and Policy Challenges of Population Aging","authors":"Natalia T. Tamirisa, Hamid Faruqee","doi":"10.5089/9781451863550.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451863550.001","url":null,"abstract":"This paper simulates the macroeconomic effects of population aging in a dynamic overlapping generations model of a small open economy. The model is calibrated to data for the Czech Republic, where population aging is proceeding at a pace comparable to that in other advanced countries in Europe. Simulations show that population aging is likely to slow economic growth and improvements in living standards. Although reforms to raise labor force participation and productivity growth can mitigate these adverse effects, they are unlikely to eliminate the need for fiscal reforms. The budget will come under pressure from rising age-related expenditures, and consolidation will be needed to preserve debt sustainability.","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"135 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72680650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Starting from microeconomic foundations, we derive a general formula for the aggregation of outputs of heterogeneous firms (or sectors), and we solve explicitly for the fundamental intertemporal equilibrium path of the aggregate economy. The firms are subject to temporary technology shocks, but the aggregate output has radically different dynamical properties, and a special form of long memory and nonlinearity never used hitherto. We study, analytically, the implied time series properties of the new process characterizing aggregate GDP per capita. This process is more persistent than any dynamically-stable linear process (e.g. autoregressions) and yet is mean-reverting (unlike unit-root processes), and its volatility is of a greater order of magnitude than that of any of its components. This amplification of volatility means that even small shocks at the micro level can lead to large fluctuations at the macro level. The process is also characterized by long cycles which have random lengths and which are asymmetric. Increased monopoly power will tend to reduce the amplitude and increase the persistence of business cycles. Strikingly, we find that the nonlinear aggregate process has an S-shaped decay of memory, similar to the data but unlike linear time series models such as the widely-used Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving-Average (ARIMA) processes and their special cases (including fractional Integration).
{"title":"Aggregation, Persistence and Volatility in a Macro Model","authors":"K. Abadir, G. Talmain","doi":"10.1111/1467-937X.00225","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-937X.00225","url":null,"abstract":"Starting from microeconomic foundations, we derive a general formula for the aggregation of outputs of heterogeneous firms (or sectors), and we solve explicitly for the fundamental intertemporal equilibrium path of the aggregate economy. The firms are subject to temporary technology shocks, but the aggregate output has radically different dynamical properties, and a special form of long memory and nonlinearity never used hitherto. We study, analytically, the implied time series properties of the new process characterizing aggregate GDP per capita. This process is more persistent than any dynamically-stable linear process (e.g. autoregressions) and yet is mean-reverting (unlike unit-root processes), and its volatility is of a greater order of magnitude than that of any of its components. This amplification of volatility means that even small shocks at the micro level can lead to large fluctuations at the macro level. The process is also characterized by long cycles which have random lengths and which are asymmetric. Increased monopoly power will tend to reduce the amplitude and increase the persistence of business cycles. Strikingly, we find that the nonlinear aggregate process has an S-shaped decay of memory, similar to the data but unlike linear time series models such as the widely-used Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving-Average (ARIMA) processes and their special cases (including fractional Integration).","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"146 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85034552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper estimates output gaps for Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, employing the HP filter and unobservable-components (UC) techniques. The latter approach assumes that actual output is the sum of potential output, which follows a random walk with a time-varying drift, and a stationary output gap. While the results imply that UC methods are useful in estimating output gaps in Asia, simple Phillips curves suggest that the information contents of the two measures of the gap are essentially identical. The main advantage of the UC technique is that it allows the construction of confidence bands for the gap.
{"title":"Unobservable-Component Estimates of Output Gaps in Five Asian Economies","authors":"","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1009132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1009132","url":null,"abstract":"This paper estimates output gaps for Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, employing the HP filter and unobservable-components (UC) techniques. The latter approach assumes that actual output is the sum of potential output, which follows a random walk with a time-varying drift, and a stationary output gap. While the results imply that UC methods are useful in estimating output gaps in Asia, simple Phillips curves suggest that the information contents of the two measures of the gap are essentially identical. The main advantage of the UC technique is that it allows the construction of confidence bands for the gap.","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74649613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The effects of the changing U.S. age distribution on various macroeconomic equations are examined in this paper. The equations include consumption, money demand, housing investment, and labor force participation equations. Seven age groups are analyzed: 16-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-39, 40- 54, 55-64, and 65+. There seems to be enough variance in the age distribution data to allow reasonably precise estimates of the effects of a number of age categories on the macro variables. The results show that, other things being equal, age groups 30-39 and 40-54 consume less than average, invest less in housing than average, and demand more money than average. Age group 55-64 consumes more and demands more money. If these estimates are right, they imply, other things being equal, that consumption and housing investment will be negatively affected in the future as more and more baby boomers enter the 30-54 age group. The demand for money will be positively affected. If, as Easterlin argues, the average wage that an age group faces is negatively affected by the percent of the population in that group, then the labor force participation rate of a group should depend on the relative size of the group. If the substitution effect dominates, people in a large group should work less than average, and if the income effect dominates, they should work more than average. The results indicate that the substitution effect dominates for women 25-54 and that the income effect dominates for men 25-54.
{"title":"Effects of the Changing U.S. Age Distribution on Macroeconomic Equations","authors":"R. Fair, Kathryn M. E. Dominguez","doi":"10.3386/W2280","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/W2280","url":null,"abstract":"The effects of the changing U.S. age distribution on various macroeconomic equations are examined in this paper. The equations include consumption, money demand, housing investment, and labor force participation equations. Seven age groups are analyzed: 16-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-39, 40- 54, 55-64, and 65+. There seems to be enough variance in the age distribution data to allow reasonably precise estimates of the effects of a number of age categories on the macro variables. The results show that, other things being equal, age groups 30-39 and 40-54 consume less than average, invest less in housing than average, and demand more money than average. Age group 55-64 consumes more and demands more money. If these estimates are right, they imply, other things being equal, that consumption and housing investment will be negatively affected in the future as more and more baby boomers enter the 30-54 age group. The demand for money will be positively affected. If, as Easterlin argues, the average wage that an age group faces is negatively affected by the percent of the population in that group, then the labor force participation rate of a group should depend on the relative size of the group. If the substitution effect dominates, people in a large group should work less than average, and if the income effect dominates, they should work more than average. The results indicate that the substitution effect dominates for women 25-54 and that the income effect dominates for men 25-54.","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74764415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Using variants of a modified version of Dornbusch's model of price level and exchange rate dynamics, it is demonstrated that satisfaction of the formal condition for existence of a unigue non-explosive solution of a linear rational expectations model with forward and backward looking dynamic processes (equality of the number of stable roots with the number of independent backward looking processes) does not guarantee the economic sensibility of this solution, even if one accepts the usual arguments for excluding "speculative babbles" from the solutions of such models. Moreover, satisfaction of the formal condition for existence of an infinity of non-explosive solutions for such rational expectations models (more stable roots than independent backward looking processes) does not assure that any of these solutions is economically sensible.
{"title":"Economically Sensible Solutions for Linear Rational Expectations Models with Forward and Backward Looking Dynamic Processes","authors":"Michael L. Mussa","doi":"10.3386/W1398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/W1398","url":null,"abstract":"Using variants of a modified version of Dornbusch's model of price level and exchange rate dynamics, it is demonstrated that satisfaction of the formal condition for existence of a unigue non-explosive solution of a linear rational expectations model with forward and backward looking dynamic processes (equality of the number of stable roots with the number of independent backward looking processes) does not guarantee the economic sensibility of this solution, even if one accepts the usual arguments for excluding \"speculative babbles\" from the solutions of such models. Moreover, satisfaction of the formal condition for existence of an infinity of non-explosive solutions for such rational expectations models (more stable roots than independent backward looking processes) does not assure that any of these solutions is economically sensible.","PeriodicalId":11754,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Other Macroeconomics: Aggregative Models (Topic)","volume":"66 2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1984-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79597281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}