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Open Economy (open + economy)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	94%
Humanities and Social Sciences	5%

Kinds of Open Economy

small open economy

Selected Abstracts

MONETARY POLICY IN A SMALL OPEN ECONOMY: THE CASE OF MALAYSIA

THE DEVELOPING ECONOMIES, Issue 4 2007
So UMEZAKI
E42; E58; F41 This paper provides a case study to characterize the monetary policy regime in Malaysia, from a medium- and long-term perspective. Specifically, we ask how the Central Bank of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), has structured its monetary policy regime, and how it has conducted monetary and exchange rate policy under the regime. By conducting three empirical analyses, we characterize the monetary and exchange rate policy regime in Malaysia by three intermediate solutions on three vectors: the degree of autonomy in monetary policy, the degree of variability of the exchange rate, and the degree of capital mobility. [source]

TASTE FOR VARIETY AND OPTIMUM PRODUCT DIVERSITY IN AN OPEN ECONOMY

BULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009
Javier Coto-Martínez
D43; F12 ABSTRACT We extend the Benassy,taste for variety' model to an open economy setting. With the Benassy effect, the market equilibrium is inefficient, openness reduces the varieties provided in the unconstrained optimum and there are potential gains from international coordination. [source]

Monetary Policy and the Taylor Principle in Open Economies

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 3 2006
Ludger Linnemann
Nowadays, central banks mostly conduct monetary policy by setting nominal interest rates. A widely held view is that central banks can stabilize inflation if they follow the Taylor principle, which requires raising the nominal interest rate more than one-for-one in response to higher inflation. Is this also correct in an economy open to international trade? Exchange rate changes triggered by interest rate policy might interfere with inflation stabilization if they alter import prices. The paper shows that this destabilizing effect can prevail if (a) the central bank uses consumer (rather than producer) prices as its inflation indicator or directly reacts to currency depreciation, and (b) if it bases interest rate decisions on expected future inflation. Thus, if the central bank looks at current inflation rates and ignores exchange rate changes, Taylor-style interest rate setting policies are advisable in open economies as well. [source]

Financial Contagion in Five Small Open Economies: Does the Exchange Rate Regime Really Matter?

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2000
Zsolt Darvas
This paper examines the spillover effects of the global financial crises of 1997,9 on five small open economies with different types of exchange rate regimes: the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Israel and Poland. We found empirical evidence that the regional aspect played a dominant role in the intensity of the spillover effects. We found no empirical evidence that the pressures on exchange rates, interest rates and stock markets were primarily influenced by the exchange rate regime in place. Our findings do not support the commonly held view that flexible regimes are the best choice for small open emerging market economies exposed to volatile capital flows. [source]

Measuring Monetary Policy Shocks in a Small Open Economy

ECONOMIC NOTES, Issue 1 2001
Giuseppe De Arcangelis
This paper presents different specifications of a structural VAR model which are useful to identify monetary policy shocks and their macroeconomic effects for the Italian economy in the 1990s. The analysis is based on a detailed institutional description of the functioning of the domestic market for bank reserves. In this setting, we try to establish if monetary policy shocks are better identified using exchange rates or foreign exchange reserves as a conditioning variable for the small open economy framework. Our analysis confirms the view that the Bank of Italy has been targeting the rate on overnight interbank loans in the 1990s. This is coherent with either proposed modelling choices. Therefore, we interpret shocks to the overnight rate as purely exogenous monetary policy shocks and study how they impact the economy. (J.E.L.: E52, F41, F47). [source]

Austria's Demand for International Reserves and Monetary Disequilibrium: The Case of a Small Open Economy with a Fixed Exchange Rate Regime

ECONOMICA, Issue 281 2004
Harald Badinger
Using a vector error correction approach, I estimate Austria's demand for international reserves over the period 1985:1,1997:4 and test for short-run effects of the disequilibrium on the national monetary market. I find that Austria's long-run reserve demand can be described as a stable function of imports, uncertainty and the opportunity cost of holding reserves with strong economies of scale. The speed of adjustment takes a value of 38 per cent. The results confirm that an excess of money demand (supply) induces an inflow (outflow) of international reserves as postulated by the monetary approach to the balance of payments. [source]

Environmental Taxation and Induced Structural Change in an Open Economy: The Role of Market Structure

GERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2008
Christoph Böhringer
Environmental taxation; imperfect competition; structural change Abstract. Studies of structural change induced by environmental taxation usually proceed in a perfect-competition framework and typically find structural change to be quite moderate under realistic emission reduction scenarios. By observing that some of the industries affected are likely to operate under imperfect rather than perfect competition, additional mechanisms emerge which may amplify structural change beyond the extent identified as yet. Especially, changes in economies of scale may arise which weaken or strengthen the competitive position of industries over and above the initial cost effect. Using a computable general equilibrium model for Germany to examine the effects of a unilaterally introduced carbon tax, we find that induced structural change is more pronounced under imperfect competition than under perfect competition. At the macroeconomic level, we find that aggregate losses in economies of scale are larger than aggregate gains, implying that the total costs of environmental regulation are higher under imperfect competition than under perfect competition. [source]

Open Economy: International Trade Theory and Policy

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2005
David Blandford
[source]

Monetary Policy under Alternative Asset Market Structures: The Case of a Small Open Economy

JOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 7 2009
BIANCA DE PAOLI
welfare; optimal monetary policy; asset markets; small open economy Can the structure of asset markets change the way monetary policy should be conducted? Following a linear-quadratic approach, the present paper addresses this question in a New Keynesian small open economy framework. Our results reveal that the configuration of asset markets significantly affects optimal monetary policy and the performance of standard policy rules. In particular, when comparing complete and incomplete markets, the ranking of policy rules is entirely reversed, and so are the policy prescriptions regarding the optimal level of exchange rate volatility. [source]

Monetary Policy and Stock Prices in an Open Economy

JOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 8 2007
GIORGIO DI GIORGIO
monetary policy; stock prices; Taylor Rule; open-economy DSGE models; wealth effects This paper studies monetary policy in a two-country model where agents can invest their wealth in both stock and bond markets. In our economy the foreign country hosts the only active equity market where also residents of the home country can trade stocks of listed foreign firms. We show that, in order to achieve price stability, the Central Banks in both countries should grant a dedicated response to movements in stock prices driven by relative productivity shocks. Determinacy of rational expectations equilibria and approximation of the Wicksellian interest rate policy by simple monetary policy rules are also investigated. [source]

A Structural Model of Australia as a Small Open Economy

THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2009
Kristoffer P. Nimark
This paper sets up and estimates a structural model of Australia as a small open economy using Bayesian techniques. Unlike other recent studies, the paper shows that a small micro-founded model can capture the open economy dimensions quite well. Specifically, the model attributes a substantial fraction of the volatility of domestic output and inflation to foreign disturbances, close to what is suggested by unrestricted VAR studies. The paper also investigates the effects of various exogenous shocks on the Australian economy. [source]

On the Effects of Inflation Shocks in a Small Open Economy

THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 3 2007
Sushanta K. Mallick
The effects of monetary policies remain always an important topic in macroeconomics. In the literature (closed and open economy), there is no theoretical as well as empirical consensus regarding the effects of monetary policies. In this paper we examine the real effects of inflation in an open economy. Australia is a classic example of a small open economy and is known to exercise inflation targeting. Using quarterly data from Australia and employing vector autoregressive (VAR) analysis, we provide evidence that inflation, both in the short and long run, negatively affects durable and non-durable consumption and investment, and has a positive effect on the current account. Further, we show that consumption of durable goods is more sensitive than the consumption of non-durables during the initial periods following inflationary shocks. [source]

Stabilising Properties of Discretionary Monetary Policies in a Small Open Economy,

THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 508 2006
Alfred V. Guender
This article sets out a simple New Keynesian open-economy model and shows that the conduct of discretionary monetary policy in an open economy differs substantially from the closed-economy framework. The article shows analytically that the existence of the direct exchange rate channel in the open economy Phillips Curve impairs the perfect stabilising property of monetary policy in the face of demand-side disturbances under domestic inflation targeting. If CPI inflation is instead the target, then the perfect stabilising property of monetary policy breaks down even in the absence of the direct exchange rate channel in the Phillips Curve. [source]

Monetary Policy in a Small Open Economy with Marshallian Preferences,

THE ECONOMIC RECORD, Issue 268 2009
CONSTANTINE ANGYRIDIS
We study the effects of inflation for a small open economy when the representative agent has Marshallian preferences, with which the rate of time preference is a decreasing function of savings. An increase in the inflation rate reduces the permanent income of the representative agent, which, with Marshallian preferences, also reduces the rate of time preference. Hence, savings falls and the country runs a current account deficit. The numerical evaluations of the model suggest that inflation has significant effects on welfare in the steady state. [source]

A Small Open Economy with Staggered Wage Setting and Intertemporal Optimization: The Basic Analytics

THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 4 2003
John Fender
We develop a model of a small open economy with optimizing, infinitely lived agents. They have monopoly power over the price of their labour, and wage setting is staggered. We consider the effects of an unanticipated increase in the money supply. In all cases, the exchange rate depreciates immediately to its long-run value with no overshooting. With unitary elasticity of substitution in preferences between home and foreign goods, output rises instantaneously but gradually returns to its initial value in the long run. Trade remains balanced at all times. With an elasticity of substitution above unity, there is a trade surplus in the short run and a deficit in the long run, as permanently higher net foreign assets are accumulated. Convergence to the steady state is faster, and thus output persistence is smaller. With unitary elasticity the dynamics are the same as in an equivalent closed economy, so, to the extent that an elasticity greater than one is plausible for an open economy, we conclude that openness reduces output persistence. [source]

Productivity and Preferences in a Small Open Economy

THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 2001
Jagjit S. Chadha
Following Hall (Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 15 (1997), pp. S223,S250) it is increasingly common to incorporate preference, as well as productivity, perturbations in calibrated general equilibrium models. We assess the performance of a small open economy stochastic growth model (based on the Blanchard,Yaari framework) under alternative driving processes. Whilst both models provide familiar descriptions of the aggregate economy, we find that the model driven by productivity disturbances has clear advantages in explaining the behaviour towards foreign asset accumulation. [source]

Interest Rate Volatility Prior to Monetary Union under Alternative Pre-Switch Regimes

GERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2003
Bernd Wilfling
Interest rate volatility; term structure; exchange rate arrangements; intervention policy; stochastic processes Abstract. The volatility of interest rates is relevant for many financial applications. Under realistic assumptions the term structure of interest rate differentials provides an important predictor of the term structure of interest rates. This paper derives the term structure of differentials in a situation in which two open economies plan to enter a monetary union in the future. Two systems of floating exchange rates prior to the union are considered, namely a free-float and a managed-float regime. The volatility processes of arbitrary-term differentials under the respective pre-switch arrangements are compared. The paper elaborates the singularity of extremely short-term (i.e. instantaneous) interest rates under extensive leaning-against-the-wind interventions and discusses policy issues. [source]

A Structural Investigation of Third-Currency Shocks to Bilateral Exchange Rates,

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2008
Martin Melecky
An exchange rate between two currencies can be materially affected by shocks emerging from a third country. A US demand shock, for example, can affect the exchange rate between the euro and the yen. Because positive US demand shocks have a greater positive impact on Japanese interest rates than on euro area rates, the yen appreciates against the euro in response. Using quarterly data on the United States, the euro area and Japan from 1981 to 2006, this paper shows that the third-currency effects are significant even when exchange rates evolve according to uncovered interest parity. This is because interest rates are typically set in response to output and inflation, which are in turn influenced by other exchange rates. More importantly, third-currency effects are also transmitted to the actual exchange rate through the expected future exchange rate, which is, in a multi-country set-up, influenced by third-countries' fundamentals and shocks. Third-currency effects have a stronger impact on the currency of a relatively more open economy. The analysis implies that small open economies should avoid strict forms of bilateral exchange rate targeting, since higher trade and financial openness work as a force intrinsically amplifying currency fluctuations. [source]

Monetary Policy and the Taylor Principle in Open Economies

Financial Contagion in Five Small Open Economies: Does the Exchange Rate Regime Really Matter?

Monetary policy in high inflation open economies: evidence from Israel and Turkey

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FINANCE & ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2007
Sushanta K. Mallick
Abstract With quarterly data from Israel and Turkey we estimate generalized impulse response functions to show that inflation has no long-run real effects on consumption, investment and the current account balance. The findings are robust even after allowing for inflation volatility obtained through GARCH estimates. We develop an inter-temporal optimizing model of a small open economy with a fixed rate of time preference that supports the empirics. Our model, thus, extends the super-neutrality results (à la Sidrausky) in an open economy paradigm. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The empirics of monetary policy rules in open economies

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FINANCE & ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2001
Richard H. Clarida
This paper uses the empirical framework for formulating and estimating forward looking monetary policy rules developed in Clarida, Gali and Gertler (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) and Clarida (2000) to assess what we know, don't know, and can't tell about monetary policy making in an open economy with an (implicit) inflation target. Among the issues discussed are: the relationship between structural VAR models of monetary policy and exchange rates and estimates of forward-looking Taylor rules; the relationship between inflation targeting and leaning against the (exchange rate) wind; why central bankers are averse to even wide-band target zones; quantifying stresses and costs of a one-size-fits-all monetary policy for the members of a monetary union or currency bloc. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Government size and openness revisited: the case of financial globalization

KYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 3 2009
Alena Kimakova
SUMMARY The volatility of international capital flows to emerging markets has been well documented. Financial globalization may not in general fulfill its theoretical role as a risk sharing mechanism in financially underdeveloped economies, and hence may provide an impetus for compensating government spending. Comparative studies of the public sector have provided evidence of a robust positive association between government size and openness of the economy to trade flows. This paper extends the existing literature by investigating the relationship between government size and financial openness for 87 developing and developed countries between 1976 and 2003. The analysis reveals a positive relationship between exposure to international capital flows and government size. Furthermore, interacting capital flows with income levels shows that richer open economies tend to have smaller government size. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that benefits of financial integration, in terms of improved risk-sharing and consumption smoothing, accrue only beyond a certain minimum level of financial development. [source]

Causality Tests for Cross-Country Panels: a New Look at FDI and Economic Growth in Developing Countries

OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 2 2001
Usha Nair-Reichert
The remarkable increase in FDI flows to developing countries over the last decade has focused attention on whether this source of financing enhances overall economic growth. We use a mixed fixed and random (MFR) panel data estimation method to allow for cross country heterogeneity in the causal relationship between FDI and growth and contrast our findings with those from traditional approaches. We find that the relationship between investment, both foreign and domestic, and economic growth in developing countries is highly heterogeneous and that estimation methods which assume homogeneity across countries can yield misleading results. Our results suggest there is some evidence that the efficacy of FDI in raising future growth rates, although heterogeneous across countries, is higher in more open economies. [source]

GAUGING ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE UNDER CHANGING TERMS OF TRADE: REAL GROSS DOMESTIC INCOME OR REAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT?

ECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 4 2008
Dr WILLIAM COLEMAN
The paper presents a simple theoretical case for the superiority of the notion of Real Gross Domestic Income to Gross Domestic Product. It is shown that, in a multi-period version of the familiar neoclassical model of a small, open economy, a temporary improvement in its terms of trade will increase welfare and RGDI, and produce a trade surplus in current prices; but will decrease real GDP, on account of it creating a trade deficit at constant prices. [source]

Open-Economy Inflation-Forecast Targeting

GERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2006
Kai Leitemo
Inflation targeting; forecast targeting; monetary policy; small open economy Abstract. We study simple inflation-forecast targeting in an open-economy setting. Simple inflation-forecast targeting implies setting an interest rate which, if kept unchanged throughout the forecast-targeting horizon, produces a conditional inflation forecast equal to the inflation target at the end of the horizon. We find that the optimal forecast-targeting horizon is relatively short (one year). A longer horizon does not consistently contribute to improved output stability, indeed it increases exchange rate variability and traded sector variability. The targeting procedure is substantially inferior to the optimal pre-commitment policy. Moreover, the targeting procedure does not necessarily determine the rational-expectations equilibrium and is subject to time inconsistency. [source]

Green Tax Reform and Competitiveness

GERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2001
Erkki Koskela
This paper studies a revenue-neutral green tax reform that substitutes energy for wage taxes in an open economy with unemployment. As long as the labour tax rate exceeds the energy tax rate, such a reform will increase employment, reduce the domestic firms' unit cost of production and hence increase international competitiveness and output of the economy. The driving force behind these results is the technological substitution process that a green tax reform will bring about. The resulting reduction in unemployment is welfare increasing since energy, which the country has to buy at its true national opportunity cost, is replaced with labour, whose price is above its social opportunity cost. [source]

Optimal Policy for Financial Market Liberalizations: Decentralization and Capital Flow Reversals

GERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2000
Theo S. Eicher
Financial market liberalizations are an integral part of economic development. While initial booms in investment and output are commonly seen as signs of successful deregulation, they often reverse at a later stage as international capital flows turn negative and economic growth slows markedly. Such reversals of fortunes have commonly been attributed to incorrect policies that supposedly followed the initial, appropriate measures. It is unclear, however, if capital flow reversals are actually the result of policy reversals, or if they occur as part of the normal transition when financial liberalization is accompanied by a single suboptimal policy. The later hypothesis has not been explored in the theoretical literature We construct a general equilibrium growth model of a small open economy, in which capital flow reversals are the result of a single, suboptimal policy imposed at the beginning of the financial liberalization. We show how improper taxation of foreign borrowing initially leads to strong growth fuelled by an investment boom and foreign borrowing. Still along the transition, however, the model predicts that capital flows must reverse endogenously at a later stage, as the debt burden rises and the country-specific risk premium increases. Our data on the Latin American and East Asian countries provide strong support for our hypothesis. [source]

Capital Inflows, Resource Reallocation and the Real Exchange Rate,

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 2 2008
Emmanuel K. K. Lartey
A large capital inflow to a developing economy can potentially cause a real exchange rate appreciation that is detrimental to the prospects of its tradable sector; a phenomenon known as the Dutch Disease. I analyse the effects of both the level and share of capital inflow on resource reallocation and real exchange rate movements in a small open economy. I find that there exists a trade-off between resource reallocation and the degree of real exchange rate appreciation. In particular, the less labour the tradable sector loses to the non-tradable sector, the greater is the real exchange rate appreciation. This result is driven by the share of investment accounted for by foreign capital, and suggests that an emerging market economy that adopts a production technique which utilizes a greater share of foreign capital relative to domestic capital will be more susceptible to the Dutch Disease following an increase in capital inflow. The results also imply that a policy designed to minimize real exchange rate appreciation during capital inflow episodes should encompass measures aimed at stabilizing prices of non-tradables. [source]