The Impact of News, Oil Prices, and Global Market Developments on Russian Financial Markets

This paper analyzes the impact of news, oil prices, and international financial market developments on daily returns on Russian bond and stock markets. First, regarding returns, energy news affects returns, while news from the war in Chechnya is not significant. Market volatility does not appear to be sensitive to either type of news. Second, a significant effect of the growth in oil prices on Russian stock returns is detected. Third, the international influence on Russian financial markets depends upon the degree of financial liberalization. The higher the degree of financial liberalization, the stronger is the impact of U.S. stock returns on Russian financial markets. In addition, banking reform and interest rate liberalization efforts seem to dictate the globalization of Russian stock markets, while it is the progress in liberalizing securities markets and non-bank financial institutions that matters more for the globalization of Russian bond markets.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40042/3/wp656.pd

Volatile Interest Rates, Volatile Crime Rates: A new argument for interest-rate smoothing

Good monetary policy requires estimates of all of its effects: monetary policy impacts traditional economic variables such as output, unemployment rates, and inflation. But does monetary policy influence crime rates? By extending the vector autoregression literature, we derive estimates of the dynamic effect of higher interest rates on crime rates. Higher interest rates have socially and statistically significant positive effects on rates of theft and knife robberies, while effects on rates of burglary and assault are smaller and statistically insignificant. Higher interest rates have no effect on homicide rates. We conclude that monetary policy influences the rate of economically-motivated crimes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40080/3/wp694.pd

Do Regional Integration Agreements Increase Business-Cycle Convergence? Evidence From APEC and NAFTA

Using monthly industrial sector data from January 1971 to March 2004, we test for business cycles convergence among the major APEC members: Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, USA, and Canada. In addition, we examine the synchronization of business cycles among Australia, Japan, and South Korea, based on the quarterly data for the 1957-2003 period, as well as among the different economic sectors of the NAFTA countries from January 1970 through March 2004. We apply different techniques to identify business cycles. In particular, we propose a new trend-cycle decomposition method based on wavelet analysis. The results show that convergence of business cycles of Asia-Pacific countries is far from complete, but joining the APEC has increased the mean correlation of industrial production cycles of the member economies. On the other hand, although some economic sectors of the NAFTA countries already exhibited some degree of business cycle co-movement even during pre-NAFTA period, the volatility of pair-wise correlation of business cycles declined during NAFTA. In addition, we conclude that, in general, the transmission of business cycles is relatively slow, and, consequently, business cycles appear to be asynchronous.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40151/3/wp765.pd

European Integration, Productivity Growth and Real Convergence

This paper derives a stochastic endogenous growth model that investigates the impact of European Union integration on convergence and productivity growth. We deviate from the general strand of literature by not only deriving a theoretical model for the effects of integration on the rate of economic growth, but also by using more appropriate estimation techniques. The outcome of a series of panel and structural break tests examining the accession process of five recent members to the Union generally show improved rates of productivity growth and convergence to EU standards. We then draw from the experience of these recent members to derive implications for the first-round EU candidate countries. Subsequent tests on the first-round candidate countries find a high level of heterogeneity in growth rates, and a fast-paced convergence to EU standards.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40043/3/wp657.pd

The impact of news, oil prices, and international spillovers on Russian financial markets

This paper analyzes the impact of news, oil prices, and international financial market developments on daily returns on Russian bond and stock markets. First, there is some persistence in both bond and stock market returns. Second, we find that U.S. stock market returns Granger-cause Russian financial markets. Third, growth in oil prices has a positive effect on Russian stock market returns. Fourth, there is a significant economic and statistical influence of a specific type of news on the Russian bond market: Positive (negative) news related to the energy sector raise (lower) daily returns by one percentage point. News from the war in Chechnya, on the other hand, do not appear to have a significant influence on financial markets. --financial market behavior,financial market integration,stock market returns,bonds market returns,news,emerging markets,transition economies

Sources of inflation and output fluctuations in Poland and Hungary: Implications for full membership in the European Union

This paper examines the sources of fluctuations in inflation and output in two leading transitioneconomy candidates for admission to the European Union (EU), Poland and Hungary. Using a rational expectations, dynamic open economy aggregate supply- aggregate demand model, we consider real oil price, supply, balance of payments, demand, and monetary disturbances incorporating important features of transition economies such as balance of payments disturbances and finite capital mobility. Evidence indicates that supply shocks explain a sizable portion of price level movements in Hungary while demand shocks are dominant in price level movements in Poland. Monetary shocks are an important source of output fluctuations in the short run in Hungary suggesting nominal inertia. In Poland, real demand shocks affect output in the short run (up to one year), while monetary shocks are negligible. Estimates of “core inflation” based on historical realizations of the shocks suggest that a major component of inflation has been demand driven, “core” inflation. Finally, policy implications of these findings regarding EU membership are evaluated. --Business Cycles,Inflation,Transition Economies,Time Series Models

Worsening of the Asian Financial Crisis: Who is to Blame?

Some observers have argued that the IMF’s focus on the institutional weaknesses of the Asian crisis countries that are inherently difficult to remedy and not necessarily relevant for the crisis, and that their inclusion in IMF programs exacerbated the crisis. This paper argues that besides IMF actions, it is important to consider other factors such as governments’ own policy actions and the degree of socio-political instability in affected countries to better assess the factors that might have exacerbated the crisis. Using Indonesia as a case study, we show that political turmoil and government policy actions taken independent of IMF programs lowered the dollardenominated stock market returns, while IMF-related news did not have any significant effect the returns. However, the negative impact of independent government policy announcements on investor wealth was larger than that of political instability.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40044/3/wp658.pd

Do Regional Integration Agreements Increase Business-Cycle Convergence? Evidence From APEC and NAFTA

Using monthly industrial sector data from January 1971 to March 2004, we test for business cycles convergence among the major APEC members: Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, USA, and Canada. In addition, we examine the synchronization of business cycles among Australia, Japan, and South Korea, based on the quarterly data for the 1957-2003 period, as well as among the different economic sectors of the NAFTA countries from January 1970 through March 2004. We apply different techniques to identify business cycles. In particular, we propose a new trend-cycle decomposition method based on wavelet analysis. The results show that convergence of business cycles of Asia-Pacific countries is far from complete, but joining the APEC has increased the mean correlation of industrial production cycles of the member economies. On the other hand, although some economic sectors of the NAFTA countries already exhibited some degree of business cycle co-movement even during pre-NAFTA period, the volatility of pair-wise correlation of business cycles declined during NAFTA. In addition, we conclude that, in general, the transmission of business cycles is relatively slow, and, consequently, business cycles appear to be asynchronous.business-cycles convergence, wavelets, APEC, NAFTA

Sources of real and nominal exchange rate fluctuations in transition economies

This paper provides an empirical inquiry into the sources of movements of the real and nominal exchange rates in Hungary and Poland for during the 1990:01-1998:02 period. We decompose the exchange rate movements into those attributable to real and nominal shocks, we find that (1) nominal shocks have played a significant role in Poland, but not in Hungary, in explaining real exchange rate movements during the transition period. Instead, real shocks have dominated real exchange movements in Hungary and (2) nominal shocks explain almost all of nominal exchange rate movements in Poland and a sizable portion of nominal exchange rate movements in Hungary. These results are compared with the findings of Lastrapes (1992) and Enders and Lee (1997) for industrial countries. Finally, policy implications of the empirical results as well their lessons for modeling exchange rates in transition economies are discussed.Poland ; Hungary ; Econometric models

Has the link between the spot and forward exchange rates broken down? Evidence from rolling cointegration tests

In a recent survey, Engel (1996) reported conflicting results about the cointegration relationship between the spot and forward exchange rates. Applying rolling cointegration tests to the mark, yen, and Swiss franc with respect to the U.S. dollar for the post-80 period, we find that the relationship between the two rates broke down in the late 1980s. Although they became cointegrated again during the mid-90s, they no longer co-moved proportionally, however. It is argued that failure to account for such significant structural changes in the data generating process may explain the conflicting findings in the literature. --