Our analysis focuses on a novel theoretical model which explains the relationship between pollution and output as well as recycling and output in the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. Our model incorporates habit formation on recycling in a circular economy model and we find that the EKC is characterized by a downward sloping curve, while the recycling output curve by an increasing curve, results which are both in agreement with the general patterns of these curves supported by the literature.
{"title":"The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Recycling and the Role of Habit Formation","authors":"Myrto Kasioumi","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.4688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.4688","url":null,"abstract":"Our analysis focuses on a novel theoretical model which explains the relationship between pollution and output as well as recycling and output in the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. Our model incorporates habit formation on recycling in a circular economy model and we find that the EKC is characterized by a downward sloping curve, while the recycling output curve by an increasing curve, results which are both in agreement with the general patterns of these curves supported by the literature.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46947657","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}
Srinivasan Palamalai, Bipasha Maity, Krishna B. Kumar
Bitcoins are evolving as a modern class of investment assets and it is crucial for investors to manage their investment risk. This paper examines the impact of macroeconomic-financial indicators on Bitcoin price using symmetric and asymmetric version of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models with structural breaks. The asymmetric long-run association ascertained between Bitcoin prices and the macroeconomic-financial indicators is evident. Our empirical results indicate that the Bitcoin cannot be used to hedge against the inflation, Federal funds rate, stock markets and commodity markets. We further find that Bitcoin can be regarded as a hedging device for the oil prices. Our findings have significant implications for market participants who consider including alternate investment assets in their portfolios.
{"title":"Macro-Financial Parameters Influencing Bitcoin Prices: Evidence from Symmetric and Asymmetric ARDL Models","authors":"Srinivasan Palamalai, Bipasha Maity, Krishna B. Kumar","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.3585","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.3585","url":null,"abstract":"Bitcoins are evolving as a modern class of investment assets and it is crucial for investors to manage their investment risk. This paper examines the impact of macroeconomic-financial indicators on Bitcoin price using symmetric and asymmetric version of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models with structural breaks. The asymmetric long-run association ascertained between Bitcoin prices and the macroeconomic-financial indicators is evident. Our empirical results indicate that the Bitcoin cannot be used to hedge against the inflation, Federal funds rate, stock markets and commodity markets. We further find that Bitcoin can be regarded as a hedging device for the oil prices. Our findings have significant implications for market participants who consider including alternate investment assets in their portfolios.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48249545","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 impact of structural funds of the European Union (EU) on regional economic growth is a matter of both political and economic importance. The large and regular payments made across the EU to countries and regions within them were and are meant to promote various aspects of growth and development and to encourage structural changes that foster investments and economic reforms. But how much of these aims have they been achieved? In this paper we provide considerable empirical evidence that Greek regions have, for the most part, benefited by the various disbursements of EU structural funds. We shed partial light on where this funding went to and to how it potentially contributed to Greek growth but we also raise a number of questions about the viability of the current productive structure of the Greek economy and its over-reliance on tourism. Our results provide support on the efficacy of the payments but leave open the problem of where these payments should be allocated, the monitoring of their absorption and the end impact in the economic cycle within a country.
{"title":"Structural Funds and Regional Economic Growth: the Greek experience","authors":"Adamantia Kehagia, Foteini Kyriazi","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.3481","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.3481","url":null,"abstract":"The impact of structural funds of the European Union (EU) on regional economic growth is a matter of both political and economic importance. The large and regular payments made across the EU to countries and regions within them were and are meant to promote various aspects of growth and development and to encourage structural changes that foster investments and economic reforms. But how much of these aims have they been achieved? In this paper we provide considerable empirical evidence that Greek regions have, for the most part, benefited by the various disbursements of EU structural funds. We shed partial light on where this funding went to and to how it potentially contributed to Greek growth but we also raise a number of questions about the viability of the current productive structure of the Greek economy and its over-reliance on tourism. Our results provide support on the efficacy of the payments but leave open the problem of where these payments should be allocated, the monitoring of their absorption and the end impact in the economic cycle within a country.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47936592","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}
Will the widespread use of cashless payments reduce the frequency of the use of cash payments? This question is important because the major costs of cash use are fixed costs that would only be reduced if the frequency of cash payments substantially decreased, and thus the extent of the reduction of the cost of cash use depends on the frequency of cash use after the widespread use of cashless payment methods. Using the data from the Financial Literacy Survey 2019 in Japan, this paper shows that the frequency of cash use for those who use both cash and noncash payment methods and that of those who exclusively use cash are about once in 2.3 days and about once in 2 days, respectively, and thus there is only a slight difference. The result did not change even if a regression model for cash usage was used that considers the endogenous choice of payment methods or if counterfactual simulations of the decrease in consumers’ willingness to use cash were conducted. The results suggest that the benefit of reducing the cost of cash use due to the widespread use of cashless payment methods is overestimated because the frequency of the use of cash payments is unlikely to decrease despite the use of cashless payment methods.
{"title":"Will the Widespread Use of Cashless Payments Reduce the Frequency of the Use of Cash Payments?","authors":"Hiroshi Fujiki","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.4522","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.4522","url":null,"abstract":"Will the widespread use of cashless payments reduce the frequency of the use of cash payments? This question is important because the major costs of cash use are fixed costs that would only be reduced if the frequency of cash payments substantially decreased, and thus the extent of the reduction of the cost of cash use depends on the frequency of cash use after the widespread use of cashless payment methods. Using the data from the Financial Literacy Survey 2019 in Japan, this paper shows that the frequency of cash use for those who use both cash and noncash payment methods and that of those who exclusively use cash are about once in 2.3 days and about once in 2 days, respectively, and thus there is only a slight difference. The result did not change even if a regression model for cash usage was used that considers the endogenous choice of payment methods or if counterfactual simulations of the decrease in consumers’ willingness to use cash were conducted. The results suggest that the benefit of reducing the cost of cash use due to the widespread use of cashless payment methods is overestimated because the frequency of the use of cash payments is unlikely to decrease despite the use of cashless payment methods.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43940121","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}
C. Kollias, Panayiotis G. Tzeremes, Nickolaos G. Tzeremes
The paper examines Latin American countries’ productivity growth levels and their convergence patterns utilizing nonparametric frontier approaches. Utilizing a sample of 17 Latin American countries for the period 1970-2014 it estimates various productivity indexes alongside with their main components. Moreover a convergence analysis is conducted estimating relative productivity convergence paths. The results suggest that over the period examined, countries’ productivity growth levels have contracted. We provide evidence that the implementation of the structural reforms of the 1990s do not appear to have driven Latin American countries to higher productivity levels. Moreover, the results do not render support to the productivity convergence hypothesis. On the other hand, some support was found for countries’ technological change levels, identifying three convergence clubs.
{"title":"Productivity Convergence and Divergence in Latin America, 1970-2014","authors":"C. Kollias, Panayiotis G. Tzeremes, Nickolaos G. Tzeremes","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.1748","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.1748","url":null,"abstract":"The paper examines Latin American countries’ productivity growth levels and their convergence patterns utilizing nonparametric frontier approaches. Utilizing a sample of 17 Latin American countries for the period 1970-2014 it estimates various productivity indexes alongside with their main components. Moreover a convergence analysis is conducted estimating relative productivity convergence paths. The results suggest that over the period examined, countries’ productivity growth levels have contracted. We provide evidence that the implementation of the structural reforms of the 1990s do not appear to have driven Latin American countries to higher productivity levels. Moreover, the results do not render support to the productivity convergence hypothesis. On the other hand, some support was found for countries’ technological change levels, identifying three convergence clubs.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46912255","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}
Jean-Louis Bago, Imad Rherrad, Koffi Akakpo, E. Ouédraogo
Using quarterly housing price-to-rent ratios from 1970 to 2018, this paper investigated the presence of real estate bubbles at a national level in eight selected European countries, namely Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Then, we analyzed bubbles contagion among these countries. We applied the generalized sup ADF test developed by Phillips et al. (2015) to detect explosive behavior in house prices. Subsequently, we implemented the non-parametric model with time varying coefficients developed by Greenaway-McGrevy and Phillips (2016) to estimate bubbles contagion among European real estate markets. We found evidence of at least one historical bubble in all these countries, with Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain currently experiencing a rising bubble. The results also suggest that bubbles are contagious between these real estate markets.
{"title":"Real Estate Bubbles and Contagion: Evidence from Selected European Countries","authors":"Jean-Louis Bago, Imad Rherrad, Koffi Akakpo, E. Ouédraogo","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.1823","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.1823","url":null,"abstract":"Using quarterly housing price-to-rent ratios from 1970 to 2018, this paper investigated the presence of real estate bubbles at a national level in eight selected European countries, namely Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Then, we analyzed bubbles contagion among these countries. We applied the generalized sup ADF test developed by Phillips et al. (2015) to detect explosive behavior in house prices. Subsequently, we implemented the non-parametric model with time varying coefficients developed by Greenaway-McGrevy and Phillips (2016) to estimate bubbles contagion among European real estate markets. We found evidence of at least one historical bubble in all these countries, with Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain currently experiencing a rising bubble. The results also suggest that bubbles are contagious between these real estate markets.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48415799","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 examines the long-run relationship between goods prices and stock prices to understand whether stock market investment can help hedge against inflation in the United States (US) and Canada. This study employed an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration test developed by Pesaran, Shin, and Smith (2001), and finds evidence of a positive long-run economic relationship between stock prices and goods prices in both economies over the sample period 1960 to 2019. The long-run elasticity is above one for both economies implying that the developments in the goods market significantly affect the stock market. We undertake a suite of sensitivity checks and find robust evidence that the stock market investment can help hedge against inflation in the United States and Canada.
{"title":"Stock Market Investment and Inflation: Evidence from the United States and Canada","authors":"Janesh Sami","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.4047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.4047","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the long-run relationship between goods prices and stock prices to understand whether stock market investment can help hedge against inflation in the United States (US) and Canada. This study employed an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration test developed by Pesaran, Shin, and Smith (2001), and finds evidence of a positive long-run economic relationship between stock prices and goods prices in both economies over the sample period 1960 to 2019. The long-run elasticity is above one for both economies implying that the developments in the goods market significantly affect the stock market. We undertake a suite of sensitivity checks and find robust evidence that the stock market investment can help hedge against inflation in the United States and Canada.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42503050","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 REITs market has attracted a lot of interest among the academic, policymakers, and market participants. The linkages between REITs and macroeconomic and financial variables have been adequately explored in the literature, with more emphasis on linear models. This study expands the frontier of knowledge by examining the role of uncertainty in the comovement/spillover between REITs and the currency markets. Some interesting results were observed. First, using the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) spillover test, we find that there is strong connectedness between the REITs and currency markets. Second, the BDS test shows that nonlinearity is a very crucial factor to be put into consideration when examining the role of EPU in affecting the interactions between REITs and exchange rate markets. Third, the non-parametric causality-in-quantile test confirms that the connectedness between the markets and EPU is stronger around the lower and middle quantiles. These results have important policy implications for policymakers and market participants. The study also offers suggestions for future research.
{"title":"Economic Policy Uncertainty and the Co-Movement between REITs and Exchange Rate","authors":"I. Raheem, I. Fasanya, A. Yusuf","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.3564","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.3564","url":null,"abstract":"The REITs market has attracted a lot of interest among the academic, policymakers, and market participants. The linkages between REITs and macroeconomic and financial variables have been adequately explored in the literature, with more emphasis on linear models. This study expands the frontier of knowledge by examining the role of uncertainty in the comovement/spillover between REITs and the currency markets. Some interesting results were observed. First, using the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) spillover test, we find that there is strong connectedness between the REITs and currency markets. Second, the BDS test shows that nonlinearity is a very crucial factor to be put into consideration when examining the role of EPU in affecting the interactions between REITs and exchange rate markets. Third, the non-parametric causality-in-quantile test confirms that the connectedness between the markets and EPU is stronger around the lower and middle quantiles. These results have important policy implications for policymakers and market participants. The study also offers suggestions for future research.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47478064","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}
Based on Becker, Kane, Niskanen, and Peltzman’s ideas, we develop a model to explain why deposit insurance is adopted even though policymakers are aware of its pitfalls in both theory and practice. In our model, the regulator acts as both a bureaucrat and an entrepreneur to maximize his self-interest through administering a deposit insurance scheme. The theory postulates that adoption of deposit insurance is more likely under the following conditions: the scheme is (i) publicly administered and (ii) privately funded, with (iii) non-risk rated insurance premium and (iv) compulsory membership; and there is (v) a larger deposit market with (vi) at least two groups of banks (good vs. bad), (vii) lower government ownership of banks, and (viii) higher economic freedom, such that one group exerts its political influence and gains from deposit insurance. Empirically our theory is supported by the stylized facts, cross-country binary-choice regression results and a case study of Canada.
{"title":"A Pure Bureaucratic-Entrepreneurial Theory of Deposit Insurance Adoption","authors":"Kam Hon Chu","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.3591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.3591","url":null,"abstract":"Based on Becker, Kane, Niskanen, and Peltzman’s ideas, we develop a model to explain why deposit insurance is adopted even though policymakers are aware of its pitfalls in both theory and practice. In our model, the regulator acts as both a bureaucrat and an entrepreneur to maximize his self-interest through administering a deposit insurance scheme. The theory postulates that adoption of deposit insurance is more likely under the following conditions: the scheme is (i) publicly administered and (ii) privately funded, with (iii) non-risk rated insurance premium and (iv) compulsory membership; and there is (v) a larger deposit market with (vi) at least two groups of banks (good vs. bad), (vii) lower government ownership of banks, and (viii) higher economic freedom, such that one group exerts its political influence and gains from deposit insurance. Empirically our theory is supported by the stylized facts, cross-country binary-choice regression results and a case study of Canada.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45823872","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 main aim of the study was to verify the thesis that the US economy is measured against the spectre of secular stagnation by determining the mood of American society using Google Trends. While performing the analysis, the authors used data on the American market for the years 2004-2018. The study comprised 42 entries, including 19 entries from the category “social” and 23 entries from the category “financial”. The analyses do not allow for a clear statement that the US economy is facing the spectre of secular stagnation, but they allow us to formulate the observation that the mood of the society is moderately pessimistic, which undoubtedly translates into economic activity and may be the cause of the persisting economic stagnation.
{"title":"Secular stagnation and Google Trends – can we find out what people think?","authors":"Katarzyna Schmidt, Mateusz Gajtkowski","doi":"10.15353/rea.v13i3.1718","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/rea.v13i3.1718","url":null,"abstract":"The main aim of the study was to verify the thesis that the US economy is measured against the spectre of secular stagnation by determining the mood of American society using Google Trends. While performing the analysis, the authors used data on the American market for the years 2004-2018. The study comprised 42 entries, including 19 entries from the category “social” and 23 entries from the category “financial”. The analyses do not allow for a clear statement that the US economy is facing the spectre of secular stagnation, but they allow us to formulate the observation that the mood of the society is moderately pessimistic, which undoubtedly translates into economic activity and may be the cause of the persisting economic stagnation.","PeriodicalId":42350,"journal":{"name":"Review of Economic Analysis","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41608136","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}