Demand for Foreign Exchange Reserves in India: A Co-integration Approach

Using cointegraion and vector error correction approach, we estimate India’s demand for foreign exchange reserves over the period 1983:1-2005:1. Our results establish that the ratio imports to GDP, the ratio of broad money to GDP,exchange rate flexibility and interest rate differential determine India’s long-run reserves demand function. Our empirical results show that reserve accumulation in India is highly sensitive to capital account vulnerability and less sensitive to its opportunity cost. The speed of adjustment coefficient of vector error correction model suggests that Reserve Bank of India has to engage in more active reserve management practices.foreign exchange reserves; capital account vulnerability; current account vulnerability; cointegration

What is the value of corporate sponsorship in sports?

This paper investigates the stock market reaction to investor mood swings resulting from the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches. We find that stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that sponsor the IPL cricket are unaffected by the cricket matches. This finding is robust along two lines: (a) the effect is insignificant both statistically and economically which we demonstrate using a simple trading strategy; and (b) results hold across a wide range of portfolios. Our results, both statistical and trading strategy-based, suggest that the portfolios of companies that sponsor cricket in India are efficient. Our findings stand in sharp contrast to the evidence obtained by the broader sports literature suggesting that sports actually impact stock returns, driven principally by psychological factors

IS INDONESIA’S CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE OPTIMAL? EVIDENCE FROM AN INTERTEMPORAL APPROACH

This study investigates whether Indonesia’s Current Account (CA) balance is intertemporally solvent. We provide fresh evidence on Indonesia’s CA deficit solvency by considering post-crisis period data and conducting sub-sample analysis. Our findings suggest that Indonesia’s CA is not solvent. We notice evidence of excess lending prior to the global financial crisis of 2008 and excess borrowing in the postcrisis period. Policymakers need to focus on the composition of capital flows and management of volatile capital flows since discouraging foreign capital inflows may serve as a deterrent to economic growth

EFFECTIVENESS OF EARLY WARNING MODELS: A CRITICAL REVIEW AND NEW AGENDA FOR FUTURE DIRECTION

This paper suggests a new agenda for constructing early warning models (EWMs) to enhance their effectiveness in predicting financial crises. The central argument of the new agenda aims to eradicate the weaknesses of existing EWMs, since their failure to predict the global financial crisis of 2007–2008 demonstrates the need to improve their efficiency. We document the history of EWMs and propose a new agenda as follows: 1) the accurate measurement of a financial crisis, 2) implementation of a fourthgeneration crisis model to capture the dynamic nature of the financial crisis, and 3) the inclusion of interconnectedness/contagion variables as explanatory variables for the financial crisis.This paper suggests a new agenda for constructing early warning models (EWMs) to enhance their effectiveness in predicting financial crises. The central argument of the new agenda aims to eradicate the weaknesses of existing EWMs, since their failure to predict the global financial crisis of 2007–2008 demonstrates the need to improve their efficiency. We document the history of EWMs and propose a new agenda as follows: 1) the accurate measurement of a financial crisis, 2) implementation of a fourthgeneration crisis model to capture the dynamic nature of the financial crisis, and 3) the inclusion of interconnectedness/contagion variables as explanatory variables for the financial crisis

Rebalancing through expenditure and price changes

pre-printThis paper puts forth a Neo-Kaleckian open economy model of two countries in order to investigate adjustment of US-China external imbalances. First, a stylized fixed mark-up model is presented, and discussed based on graphical analysis. Second, we present estimates of bilateral income and price elasticities of imports. Third, we employ the model for simulation analysis. Specifically, we randomly distribute expenditure change across government, investment and imports and calculate the exchange rate change necessary to lead to an equal change in the bilateral external imbalance. Doing so repeatedly allows to estimate probability distributions of endogenous variable changes

COVID-19 UNCERTAINTY AND MONETARY POLICY RESPONSES: EVIDENCE FROM EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES

This paper examines the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission in emerging economies during the COVID-19 outbreak. Using data from 14 emerging economies severely affected by the pandemic and the autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration, the study examines the effectiveness of monetary policy in affecting output, inflation, and credit. The study finds that: (1) In most economies, the monetary policy transmission to inflation is weakened due to the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) in a few economies, the transmission is found to be effective in stabilizing credit and output; and (3) the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic induced economic agents to follow a “cautionary” or “wait and see” approach

Did the policy responses influence credit and business cycle co-movement during the COVID-19 crisis? Evidence from Indonesia

This paper examines the responses of credit and business cycle to various policy actions of the Government of Indonesia during the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, the paper addresses two key questions (1) How do the credit and business cycle behave during the COVID-19 crisis in Indonesia? (2) Do the central bank and government policy responses effectively stabilize the credit and business cycle? Using the concordance Index and DCC-GARCH methodology, we found that the COVID-19 crisis increased Indonesia's credit and business cycle co-movements. Similarly, using the mixed data sampling regression technique, our findings suggest fiscal policy measures and government support help the business cycle revival during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the monetary policy transmission is weak during the pandemi

Spillover Effects of Capital Controls: A Critical Review and New Agenda for the Future Directions

This study tries to undertake a critical review of the spillover effects of capital controls and their welfare implications. We provide a synthesis of the literature on both the theoretical and empirical literature on the spillover effects of capital controls. Furthermore, the role of similar economies (geographical region, and economic characteristics), direction-specific capital controls, global financial crisis (GFC), asset-specific capital controls and the compositional effect of capital flows are discussed to explore the degree and extent of spillover effects of capital controls policy. Similarly, the welfare implications of capital controls depend on the policy motive behind the imposition of capital controls, the state of coordination between the source and destination countries, and among the destination countries. Our study indicates that the imposition of capital controls should be flexible, competitive or prudential and should take into account domestic conditions and circumstances. Also, there is a need for complementarity between conventional macroeconomic policies and capital control actions, and multilateral coordination between source and capital-receiving countries. Finally, we propose a future research agenda for this issue