Fiscal Policy in the BRICs

This paper assesses the macroeconomic impact of fiscal policy shocks for four key emerging market economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) – using a Bayesian Structural Vector Auto-Regressive (BSVAR) approach, a Sign-Restrictions Vector Auto-Regressive framework and a Panel Vector Auto-Regressive (PVAR) model. To get a deeper understanding of the government’s behaviour, we also estimate fiscal policy rules using a Fully Simultaneous System of Equations and analyze the importance of nonlinearity using a smooth transition (STAR) model. Drawing on quarterly frequency data, we find that government spending shocks have strong Keynesian effects for this group of countries while, in the case of government revenue shocks, a tax hike is harmful for output. This suggests that there is no evidence in favour of ‘expansionary fiscal contraction’ in the context of emerging economies where spending policies are largely pro-cyclical. Our findings also show that considerations about growth (in the case of China), exchange rate and inflation (for Brazil and Russia) and commodity prices (in India) drive the nonlinear response of fiscal policy to the dynamics of the economy. All in all, our results are consistent with the idea that fiscal policy can be a powerful stabilization tool and can provide an important short-term economic boost for emerging markets, in particular, in the context of severe downturns as in most recent financial turmoil.fiscal policy, emerging markets, fully simultaneous system of equations, sign-restrictions VAR, smooth transition regression model

Monetary Policy Rules in the BRICS: How Important is Nonlinearity?

Given limited research on monetary policy rules in emerging markets, this paper estimates monetary policy rules for five key emerging market economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) analysing whether the monetary authority reacts to changes in financial markets, in monetary conditions, in the foreign exchange sector and in the commodity price. To get a deeper understanding of the central bank’s behaviour, we assess the importance of nonlinearity using a smooth transition (STAR) model. Using quarterly data, we find strong evidence that the monetary policy followed by the Central Banks in the BRICS varies from one country to another and that it exhibits nonlinearity. In particular, considerations about economic growth (in the cases of Brazil and Russia), inflation (for India and China) and stability of financial markets (in South Africa) seem to be the major drivers of such nonlinear monetary policy behaviour. Moreover, the findings suggest that the monetary authorities pursue, with the exception of India, a target range for the threshold variable rather than a specific point target. In fact, the exponential smooth transition regression (ESTR) model seems to be the best description of the monetary policy rule in these countries.monetary policy, emerging markets, smooth transition.

Structural breaks and nonlinearity in US and UK public debt

This paper investigates the short-term dynamics for public debts in the US and the UK over more than four decades. We check for structural changes in the data and assess nonlinearity and switching-regime hypotheses using several linearity tests. Our findings point to multiple structural breaks due to economic downturns, oil shocks, and financial and political instability. We also identify different regimes for which the adjustment is asymmetric and nonlinear, in particular, since 2003 and around the Great Recession.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Modelling money demand : further evidence from an international comparison

This paper aims at estimating money demand for the euro area, the US and the UK using a dynamic ordinary least squares estimator (DOLS). Our findings show that: (i) wealth effects on money demand are important in the euro area and the UK; (ii) the impact of changes in the interest rate on real money holdings is negative and small; (iii) goods are a reasonable alternative to money; and (iv) international currency substitution has a major influence on the behaviour of real money demand in the UK.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Consumption and wealth in the US, the UK and the Euro Area : a nonlinear investigation

This paper assesses the importance of nonlinearity in estimating the wealth effects on consumption for the US, the UK and the Euro area. We look at the impact of both (i) aggregate wealth and (ii) disaggregate wealth, namely, by comparing financial wealth effects with housing wealth effects. We also assess the magnitude of the response of consumption using both a linear model and two nonlinear approaches (a quantile regression and a smooth transition regression). We find that the elasticity of consumption with respect to aggregate wealth is largest for the UK and housing wealth effects do not seem to be relevant in the Euro area. As for the quantile regression, it shows that the sensitivity of consumption with respect to wealth and income variation is larger when consumption growth is abnormally high, i.e. during periods of economic booms. The smooth transition regression model is able to track reasonably well the consumption patterns during periods of economic downturn, financial instability and housing market corrections. Our approaches uncover a more complex dynamics of the relationship between consumption and wealth than previous results in the literature, whilst being in accordance with the theoretical background underlying the wealth effects on consumption.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Detection of irinotecan using titanium nanoparticles modified electrode

A tool has been developed in this study to estimate one of the Irinotecan (INR) cancer drugs used in the treatment of lung cancer by using square wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques, on surface of electrode graphite (GrE) and through of study the optimal condition that enhance the work of this electrode. The measurements are also enhanced by the electro-polymerization process of the neutral red pigment (NR) and using when presence of titanium nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) to be greatly enhanced by measuring of LOD, LOQ and applied to human serum samples.                     KEY WORDS: Irinotecan, Lung cancer, Square wave voltammetry, Titanium nanoparticles, Serum   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2020, 34(2), 227-236 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v34i2.

Monetary policy rules in the BRICS : how important is nonlinearity?

Given limited research on monetary policy rules in emerging markets, this paper estimates monetary policy rules for five key emerging market economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) analysing whether the monetary authority reacts to changes in financial markets, in monetary conditions, in the foreign exchange sector and in the commodity price. To get a deeper understanding of the central bank’s behaviour, we assess the importance of nonlinearity using a smooth transition (STAR) model. Using quarterly data, we find strong evidence that the monetary policy followed by the Central Banks in the BRICS varies from one country to another and that it exhibits nonlinearity. In particular, considerations about economic growth (in the cases of Brazil and Russia), inflation (for India and China) and stability of financial markets (in South Africa) seem to be the major drivers of such nonlinear monetary policy behaviour. Moreover, the findings suggest that the monetary authorities pursue, with the exception of India, a target range for the threshold variable rather than a specific point target. In fact, the exponential smooth transition regression (ESTR) model seems to be the best description of the monetary policy rule in these countries.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Fiscal policy in the BRICs

This paper assesses the macroeconomic impact of fiscal policy shocks for four key emerging market economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) – using a Bayesian Structural Vector Auto-Regressive (BSVAR) approach, a Sign-Restrictions Vector Auto-Regressive framework and a Panel Vector Auto-Regressive (PVAR) model. To get a deeper understanding of the government’s behaviour, we also estimate fiscal policy rules using a Fully Simultaneous System of Equations and analyze the mportance of nonlinearity using a smooth transition (STAR) model. Drawing on quarterly frequency data, we find that government spending shocks have strong Keynesian effects for this group of countries while, in the case of government revenue shocks, a tax hike is harmful for output. This suggests that there is no evidence in favour of ‘expansionary fiscal contraction’ in the context of emerging economies where spending policies are largely pro-cyclical. Our findings also show that considerations about growth (in the case of China), exchange rate and inflation (for Brazil and Russia) and commodity prices (in India) drive the nonlinear response of fiscal policy to the dynamics of the economy. All in all, our results are consistent with the idea that fiscal policy can be a powerful stabilization tool and can provide an important short-term economic boost for emerging markets, in particular, in the context of severe downturns as in most recent financial turmoil.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT