Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-02-18DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00404
Giannis Karagiannis , Panagiotis Ravanos
The family of Malmquist non-parametric productivity indices using either a single constant input or a single constant output is a consistent approach for measuring performance change in terms of composite indicators. In this setting, testing for Hicks-neutral technical change is important, since in its presence the choice among these Malmquist indices is unnecessary, whereas its absence points towards the asymmetric effects of overarching events and policies across the evaluated units. In this paper, we provide an empirical test for Hicks-neutral technical change by relying on recent developments on inference in dynamic nonparametric models of production. We then use it to examine the pattern of technical change in two study cases related to the UNDP Human Development Index and a social inclusion composite indicator. In both cases, country performance change over time is entirely attributed to technical change, which however is economically significant only in the latter case.
{"title":"On the use of Malmquist productivity indices for intertemporal performance assessment by means of composite indicators","authors":"Giannis Karagiannis , Panagiotis Ravanos","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00404","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00404","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The family of Malmquist non-parametric productivity indices using either a single constant input or a single constant output is a consistent approach for measuring performance change in terms of composite indicators. In this setting, testing for Hicks-neutral technical change is important, since in its presence the choice among these Malmquist indices is unnecessary, whereas its absence points towards the asymmetric effects of overarching events and policies across the evaluated units. In this paper, we provide an empirical test for Hicks-neutral technical change by relying on recent developments on inference in dynamic nonparametric models of production. We then use it to examine the pattern of technical change in two study cases related to the UNDP Human Development Index and a social inclusion composite indicator. In both cases, country performance change over time is entirely attributed to technical change, which however is economically significant only in the latter case.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00404"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143428057","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-01-06DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00399
Hassnian Ali , Ahmet Faruk Aysan
This study examines the asymmetric macroeconomic factors influencing the formation and growth of fintech ecosystems across 103 countries from 2005 to 2022, offering both global and regional perspectives. Using a fixed-effects negative binomial regression model as the primary methodology, the research identifies key macroeconomic drivers—such as GDP per capita, inflation, financial development, and real interest rates—whose impacts on fintech formation vary significantly across regions. Additionally, an adapted Asymmetric Error Correction Model (AECM) for count panel data is employed as a supplementary analysis to capture the differential effects of positive and negative changes in macroeconomic variables. The findings reveal how global crises, including the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the COVID-19 pandemic, have unevenly disrupted fintech growth, exposing regional vulnerabilities and opportunities. Europe's fintech expansion is primarily driven by investments in education and human capital, while Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are more responsive to macroeconomic stability. In contrast, African fintech ecosystems rely heavily on financial development to foster growth. Robustness checks with lagged variables further validate the temporal effects of these drivers, emphasizing their long-term implications. By exploring the role of macroeconomic asymmetries in shaping fintech ecosystems, this study provides critical insights for policymakers and investors aiming to enhance resilience and foster sustainable growth tailored to the distinct economic environments of each region.
{"title":"Macroeconomic asymmetries and their influence on fintech ecosystem growth: A global and regional perspective","authors":"Hassnian Ali , Ahmet Faruk Aysan","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00399","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00399","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the asymmetric macroeconomic factors influencing the formation and growth of fintech ecosystems across 103 countries from 2005 to 2022, offering both global and regional perspectives. Using a fixed-effects negative binomial regression model as the primary methodology, the research identifies key macroeconomic drivers—such as GDP per capita, inflation, financial development, and real interest rates—whose impacts on fintech formation vary significantly across regions. Additionally, an adapted Asymmetric Error Correction Model (AECM) for count panel data is employed as a supplementary analysis to capture the differential effects of positive and negative changes in macroeconomic variables. The findings reveal how global crises, including the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the COVID-19 pandemic, have unevenly disrupted fintech growth, exposing regional vulnerabilities and opportunities. Europe's fintech expansion is primarily driven by investments in education and human capital, while Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are more responsive to macroeconomic stability. In contrast, African fintech ecosystems rely heavily on financial development to foster growth. Robustness checks with lagged variables further validate the temporal effects of these drivers, emphasizing their long-term implications. By exploring the role of macroeconomic asymmetries in shaping fintech ecosystems, this study provides critical insights for policymakers and investors aiming to enhance resilience and foster sustainable growth tailored to the distinct economic environments of each region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00399"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143143644","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 : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-15DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00417
Leo M. Doerr
This study explores potential asymmetries in the relationship between development aid and economic growth. Our analysis reveals that while previous research identifies small positive growth effects of aid, these results stem from the adverse impact of aid reductions, with no corresponding positive effect from aid increases. This suggests that aid acts more as a substitute for domestic resources than as a catalyst for growth. Combining dynamic generalized method of moments techniques with asymmetric effect analysis, we provide a new methodological framework that addresses both unbalanced effects and endogeneity of aid, offering new insights into the aid-growth nexus.
{"title":"Aid and growth: Asymmetric effects?","authors":"Leo M. Doerr","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00417","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00417","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores potential asymmetries in the relationship between development aid and economic growth. Our analysis reveals that while previous research identifies small positive growth effects of aid, these results stem from the adverse impact of aid reductions, with no corresponding positive effect from aid increases. This suggests that aid acts more as a substitute for domestic resources than as a catalyst for growth. Combining dynamic generalized method of moments techniques with asymmetric effect analysis, we provide a new methodological framework that addresses both unbalanced effects and endogeneity of aid, offering new insights into the aid-growth nexus.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00417"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143835236","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 investigates how fiscal regulation may influence lower government finances by devolving greater responsibilities to local policymakers that limit free-riding behaviour and ensure fiscal sustainability. To this extent, the Italian case provides a suitable regulatory setting that has evolved over the years, as almost 600 Italian municipalities experienced financial distress from 1989 to 2018. The aim of this study is two-fold: i) to investigate the historical and geographical evolution of local government bankruptcy procedures and ii) to test whether the exogenous Italian legislation on local government defaults influenced the dynamics of the local financial distress phenomenon, identifying three different fiscal regulatory regimes. Our results show that the regulatory regimes until 2000, which prepared for the government bail-out of local defaults, encouraged municipalities to take advantage of the bankruptcy procedures and after 2001, when the legislative interventions had been updated, there is no longer such incentive. Asymmetric effects are observed when municipalities are analysed by population size, pointing to the need to go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to fiscal policy.
{"title":"Local financial distress and fiscal regimes: Evidence from Italy","authors":"Cristiana Fiorelli , Nicola Pontarollo , Carolina Serpieri","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00418","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00418","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates how fiscal regulation may influence lower government finances by devolving greater responsibilities to local policymakers that limit free-riding behaviour and ensure fiscal sustainability. To this extent, the Italian case provides a suitable regulatory setting that has evolved over the years, as almost 600 Italian municipalities experienced financial distress from 1989 to 2018. The aim of this study is two-fold: i) to investigate the historical and geographical evolution of local government bankruptcy procedures and ii) to test whether the exogenous Italian legislation on local government defaults influenced the dynamics of the local financial distress phenomenon, identifying three different fiscal regulatory regimes. Our results show that the regulatory regimes until 2000, which prepared for the government bail-out of local defaults, encouraged municipalities to take advantage of the bankruptcy procedures and after 2001, when the legislative interventions had been updated, there is no longer such incentive. Asymmetric effects are observed when municipalities are analysed by population size, pointing to the need to go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to fiscal policy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00418"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143842462","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 : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-18DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00413
Siddhartha Barman, Jitendra Mahakud
This study investigates the influence of ESG performance on the relationship between firm performance and global energy uncertainty (EUI). Our primary objective is to examine the manner in which the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors influences the relationship between firm performance and EUI. This objective was accomplished by employing a comprehensive dataset that encompassed 50 nations, and spanned eight years (2014–2021). The results reveal that EUI has a detrimental effect on the performance of firms, as the uncertainties induced by EUI foster a culture of risk aversion, which in turn causes firms to postpone their investment in long-term projects. In contrast, the analysis emphasises a positive correlation between ESG and EUI-firm performance relationship, suggesting that firms with robust ESG performance are more likely to invest due to improved reputation, cost reduction, and sustainable market access even in times of energy related uncertainty such as oil price volatility and other energy price surges. The novelty of this research lies in its holistic approach to examining the interconnected dynamics between EUI and firm performance, and the moderating influence of ESG. The findings offer practical guidance for investors and corporate managers.
{"title":"Energy uncertainty and Firm Performance: Does ESG matter?","authors":"Siddhartha Barman, Jitendra Mahakud","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00413","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00413","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the influence of ESG performance on the relationship between firm performance and global energy uncertainty (EUI). Our primary objective is to examine the manner in which the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors influences the relationship between firm performance and EUI. This objective was accomplished by employing a comprehensive dataset that encompassed 50 nations, and spanned eight years (2014–2021). The results reveal that EUI has a detrimental effect on the performance of firms, as the uncertainties induced by EUI foster a culture of risk aversion, which in turn causes firms to postpone their investment in long-term projects. In contrast, the analysis emphasises a positive correlation between ESG and EUI-firm performance relationship, suggesting that firms with robust ESG performance are more likely to invest due to improved reputation, cost reduction, and sustainable market access even in times of energy related uncertainty such as oil price volatility and other energy price surges. The novelty of this research lies in its holistic approach to examining the interconnected dynamics between EUI and firm performance, and the moderating influence of ESG. The findings offer practical guidance for investors and corporate managers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00413"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143642829","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 : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2024-12-30DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00394
Jeremy Piger , Thomas Stockwell
This paper investigates whether there are significant differences in the response of U.S. output to monetary policy shocks in expansions vs. recessions. Much of the existing literature has found that monetary policy shocks have larger effects during recessions. However, recent influential work by Tenreyro and Thwaites (2016) finds the opposite result, and leaves the literature on this important question with a lack of consensus. Using the empirical framework of Tenreryo and Thwaites (2016) as a baseline, we provide a systematic exploration for the key drivers of differing results regarding the effects of monetary policy shocks over the business cycle. We find two key elements drive the results, the first being whether the local projection impulse response function estimator is conducted in levels vs. long differences of the data, and the second being the treatment of outliers observed in measures of monetary policy shocks during the Volcker disinflation. We conclude that the evidence is more supportive of monetary policy shocks having larger effects during recessions.
{"title":"Are the effects of monetary policy larger in recessions? A reconciliation of the evidence","authors":"Jeremy Piger , Thomas Stockwell","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00394","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00394","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates whether there are significant differences in the response of U.S. output to monetary policy shocks in expansions vs. recessions. Much of the existing literature has found that monetary policy shocks have larger effects during recessions. However, recent influential work by Tenreyro and Thwaites (2016) finds the opposite result, and leaves the literature on this important question with a lack of consensus. Using the empirical framework of Tenreryo and Thwaites (2016) as a baseline, we provide a systematic exploration for the key drivers of differing results regarding the effects of monetary policy shocks over the business cycle. We find two key elements drive the results, the first being whether the local projection impulse response function estimator is conducted in levels vs. long differences of the data, and the second being the treatment of outliers observed in measures of monetary policy shocks during the Volcker disinflation. We conclude that the evidence is more supportive of monetary policy shocks having larger effects during recessions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00394"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143143645","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 : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-02-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00406
Alex Maynard , Alessandra Pelloni
{"title":"Editorial: Asymmetries in applied macro and financial modeling and econometrics","authors":"Alex Maynard , Alessandra Pelloni","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00406","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00406","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00406"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143904573","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 : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-01-13DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00402
{"title":"Erratum regarding missing Declaration of Competing Interest statements in previously published articles","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00402","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2025.e00402","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00402"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143904576","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 : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-01-06DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00397
George Alogoskoufis, Stelios Giannoulakis
In this paper we study optimal central bank interest rate policy, and compare it to interest rate rules, such as the Wicksell (1898), Fisher (1919) and Taylor (1993) rules, in an imperfectly competitive DSGE model of aggregate fluctuations. We demonstrate that in versions of the model with full price and wage adjustment, or staggered price-setting, the optimal policy rule is the Fisher rule of absolute inflation stabilization. We also analyze a version of the model with exogenous inflation shocks and asymmetric price adjustment, in which the “divine coincidence” does not apply. In this case, the optimal monetary policy rule takes the form of a Taylor rule, the parameters of which depend on the structural and policy parameters of the model.
{"title":"Alternative monetary policy rules in an imperfectly competitive DSGE model with asymmetric price adjustment","authors":"George Alogoskoufis, Stelios Giannoulakis","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00397","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00397","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper we study optimal central bank interest rate policy, and compare it to interest rate rules, such as the Wicksell (1898), Fisher (1919) and Taylor (1993) rules, in an imperfectly competitive DSGE model of aggregate fluctuations. We demonstrate that in versions of the model with full price and wage adjustment, or staggered price-setting, the optimal policy rule is the Fisher rule of absolute inflation stabilization. We also analyze a version of the model with exogenous inflation shocks and asymmetric price adjustment, in which the “divine coincidence” does not apply. In this case, the optimal monetary policy rule takes the form of a Taylor rule, the parameters of which depend on the structural and policy parameters of the model.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00397"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143143643","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 : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2024-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00395
Youssef Ait Benasser
Is trade policy symmetric? Using a dataset of trade agreements from 1986 to 2016, we identify 596 instances of trade liberalization reversals where standing agreements are revoked and barriers to trade are reinstated. We study the impact of these reversals on import volumes to understand whether the size of trade flows responses to liberalization and protectionist policies are symmetric. The baseline results do not reject the null hypothesis of perfect policy symmetry: after a liberalization policy is reversed trade flows are on average indistinguishable from flows that did not experience earlier liberalization. Heterogeneity analysis reveals, however, that attributes of reversed policies, such as length and depth, impact their symmetry properties. In a context of increased policy volatility and evolving trade policymaking framework, this study pioneers research about the relative impacts and the persistence of liberalization and protectionism. The findings equip policymakers with critical insights into the durable benefits of liberalization, amidst protectionist pressures, and open new avenues for future research to explore the intricate dynamics of trade policy symmetry.
{"title":"Evaluating the symmetry of trade policy: Evidence from liberalization reversals","authors":"Youssef Ait Benasser","doi":"10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00395","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeca.2024.e00395","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Is trade policy symmetric? Using a dataset of trade agreements from 1986 to 2016, we identify 596 instances of trade liberalization reversals where standing agreements are revoked and barriers to trade are reinstated. We study the impact of these reversals on import volumes to understand whether the size of trade flows responses to liberalization and protectionist policies are symmetric. The baseline results do not reject the null hypothesis of perfect policy symmetry: after a liberalization policy is reversed trade flows are on average indistinguishable from flows that did not experience earlier liberalization. Heterogeneity analysis reveals, however, that attributes of reversed policies, such as length and depth, impact their symmetry properties. In a context of increased policy volatility and evolving trade policymaking framework, this study pioneers research about the relative impacts and the persistence of liberalization and protectionism. The findings equip policymakers with critical insights into the durable benefits of liberalization, amidst protectionist pressures, and open new avenues for future research to explore the intricate dynamics of trade policy symmetry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38259,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Asymmetries","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article e00395"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143143647","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}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号