E32

Business Fluctuations; Cycles

Currency Union, Free Trade Areas, and Business Cycle Synchronization

JEL codes: 
C12, C13, C14, C15, C32, E32, F15
Version Date: 
Mar 2010
Author/s: 
Abstract: 

Since the 1970s the characteristics of international business cycles have changed and deeper economic integration has modified the features of cross-country comovement. We formally test for correlation shifts in measures of real economic activity and economic/financial integration.

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Currency Union, Free-Trade Areas, and Business Cycle Synchronization

JEL codes: 
C12, C13, C14, C15, C32, E32, F15
Version Date: 
Mar 2011
Author/s: 
Abstract: 

Since the 1970s the characteristics of international business cycles have changed and deeper economic integration has modified the features of cross-country comovement. We formally test for correlation shifts in measures of real economic activity and economic/financial integration.

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Expectation Shocks and Learning as Drivers of the Business Cycle

JEL codes: 
E31, E32, E52, E58
Version Date: 
Mar 2010
Author/s: 
Abstract: 

Psychological factors, market sentiments, and shifts in beliefs are believed by many to play a nontrivial role in inducing and amplifying economic fluctuations. Yet, these forces are rarely considered in macroeconomic models. This paper provides an attempt to evaluate the empirical role of expectational shocks on business cycle fluctuations.

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A Banking Explanation of the US Velocity of Money: 1919-2004

JEL codes: 
E13, E32, E44
Version Date: 
Oct 2009
Author/s: 
Abstract: 

The paper shows that US GDP velocity of M1 money has exhibited long cycles around a 1.25% per year upward trend, during the 1919-2004 period. It explains the velocity cycles through shocks constructed from a DSGE model and annual time series data (Ingram et al., 1994).

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Identification of slowdowns and accelerations for the euro area economy

JEL codes: 
C22, C52, E32
Version Date: 
Jun 2009
Abstract: 

In addition to quantitative assessment of economic growth using econometric models, business cycle analyses have been proved to be helpful to practitioners in order to assess current economic conditions or to anticipate upcoming fluctuations.

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What’s News in Business Cycles

JEL codes: 
C11, C51, E13, E32
Version Date: 
Feb 2009
Abstract: 

In this paper, we perform a structural Bayesian estimation of the contribution of anticipated shocks to business cycles in the postwar United States. Our theoretical framework is a real-business-cycle model augmented with four real rigidities: investment adjustment costs, variable capacity utilization, habit formation in consumption, and habit formation in leisure.

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The sensitivity of DSGE models' results to data detrending

JEL codes: 
E32
Version Date: 
Jun 2009
Author/s: 
Abstract: 

This paper aims to shed light on potential pitfalls of different data filtering and detrending procedures for the estimation of stationary DSGE models. For this purpose, a medium-sized New Keynesian model as the one developed by Smets and Wouters (2003) is used to assess the sensitivity of the structural estimates to preliminary data transformations.

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Business Cycles in the Euro Area

JEL codes: 
E32
Version Date: 
Oct 2008
Author/s: 
Abstract: 

This paper shows that the EMU has not affected historical characteristics of member countries' business cycles and their cross-correlations. Member countries which had similar levels of GDP per-capita in the seventies have also experienced similar business cycles since then and no significant change associated with the EMU can be detected.

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Multiple filtering devices for the estimation of cyclical DSGE

JEL codes: 
E32
Version Date: 
Feb 2009
Abstract: 

We propose a method to estimate time invariant cyclical DSGE models using the information provided by a variety of filtering approaches. We treat data filtered with alternative procedures as contaminated proxy of the relevant model-based quantities and estimate structural and non-structural parameters jointly using an unobservable component structure.

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