A monthly indicator of employment in the euro area: real time analysis of indirect estimates

The paper presents the results of an extensive real time analysis of alternative model-based approaches to derive a monthly indicator of employment for the euro area. In the experiment the Eurostat quarterly national accounts series of employment is temporally disaggregated using the information coming from the monthly series of unemployment. The strategy benefits of the contribution of the information set of the euro area and its 6 larger member states, as well as the split into the 6 sections of economic activity. The models under comparison include univariate regressions of the Chow and Lin' type where the euro area aggregate is directly and indirectly derived, as well as multivariate structural time series models of small and medium size. The specification in logarithms is also systematically assessed. The largest multivariate setups, up to 49 series, are estimated through the EM algorithm. Main conclusions are the following: mean revision errors of disaggregated estimates of employment are overall small; a gain is obtained when the model strategy takes into account the information by both sector and member state; the largest multivariate setups outperforms those of small size and the strategies based on classical disaggregation methods.temporal disaggregation methods, multivariate structural time series models, mixed-frequency models, EM algorithm, Kalman filter and smoother

Bayesian Estimation of Multivariate Panel Probits with Higher-order Network Interdependence and an Application to Firms\u27 Global Market Participation in Guangdong

This paper proposes a Bayesian estimation framework for panel-data sets with binary dependent variables where a large number of cross-sectional units is observed over a short period of time, and cross-sectional units are interdependent in more than a single network domain. The latter provides for a substantial degree of flexibility towards modelling the decay function in network neighborliness (e.g., by disentangling the importance of rings of neighbors) or towards allowing for several channels of interdependence whose relative importance is unknown ex ante. Besides the flexible parameterization of cross-sectional dependence, the approach allows for simultaneity of the equations. These features should make the approach interesting for applications in a host of contexts involving structural and reduced-form models of multivariate choice problems at micro-, meso-, and macroeconomic levels. The paper outlines the estimation approach, illustrates its suitability by simulation examples, and provides an application to study exporting and foreign ownership among potentially interdependent firms in the specialized and transport machinery sector in the province of Guangdong

A monthly indicator of employment in the euro area: real time analysis of indirect estimates

The paper presents the results of an extensive real time analysis of alternative model-based approaches to derive a monthly indicator of employment for the euro area. In the experiment the Eurostat quarterly national accounts series of employment is temporally disaggregated using the information coming from the monthly series of unemployment. The strategy benefits of the contribution of the information set of the euro area and its 6 larger member states, as well as the split into the 6 sections of economic activity. The models under comparison include univariate regressions of the Chow and Lin' type where the euro area aggregate is directly and indirectly derived, as well as multivariate structural time series models of small and medium size. The specification in logarithms is also systematically assessed. The largest multivariate setups, up to 49 series, are estimated through the EM algorithm. Main conclusions are the following: mean revision errors of disaggregated estimates of employment are overall small; a gain is obtained when the model strategy takes into account the information by both sector and member state; the largest multivariate setups outperforms those of small size and the strategies based on classical disaggregation methods

Regional recessions and recoveries in theory and practice: a resilience-based overview

This paper surveys recent developments related to regional recessions and recoveries. Building on the idea of regional resilience, selected theoretical and empirical contributions are discussed in order to provide an overview of this area of research that looks at both equilibrium- and out-of-equilibrium approaches. On theoretical grounds, aggregate and disaggregate shocks are identified and separated, and hysteretic behaviours are examined. From an empirical perspective, linear and nonlinear econometric models are described and compared, with a particular focus on their spatial econometrics’ extensions. Possible avenues of both theoretical and empirical future research are explicitly explored