DOES INFLATION TARGETING ANCHOR LONG‐RUN INFLATION EXPECTATIONS? EVIDENCE FROM THE U.S., UK,AND SWEDEN4

We investigate the extent to which inflation expectations have been more firmly anchored in the United Kingdom–‐a country with an explicit inflation target–‐than in the United States–‐a country with no such target–‐using the difference between far‐ahead forward rates on nominal and inflation‐indexed bonds as a measure of compensation for expected inflation and inflation risk at long horizons. We show that far‐ahead forward inflation compensation in the U.S. exhibits substantial volatility, especially at low frequencies, and displays a highly significant degree of sensitivity to economic news. Similar patterns are evident in the UK prior to 1997, when the Bank of England was not independent, but have been strikingly absent since the Bank of England gained independence in 1997. Our findings are further supported by comparisons of dispersion in longer‐run inflation expectations of professional forecasters and by evidence from Sweden, another inflation‐targeting country with a relatively long history of inflation‐indexed bonds. Our results support the view that an explicit and credible inflation target helps to anchor the private sector's views regarding the distribution of long‐run inflation outcomes. (JEL: E31, E52, E58)     

WHY DO EMERGING ECONOMIES BORROW SHORT TERM?

We argue that one reason why emerging economies borrow short term is that it is cheaper than borrowing long term. This is especially the case during crises, as during these episodes the relative cost of long‐term borrowing increases. We construct a unique database of sovereign bond prices, returns, and issuances at different maturities for 11 emerging economies from 1990 to 2009 and present a set of new stylized facts. On average, these countries pay a higher risk premium on long‐term than on short‐term bonds. During crises, the difference between the two risk premia increases and issuance shifts towards shorter maturities. To illustrate our argument, we present a simple model in which the maturity structure is the outcome of a risk‐sharing problem between an emerging economy subject to rollover crises and risk‐averse international investors.     

我国通胀预期与通胀的动态关联性——基于宏观金融模型的研究

通胀预期问题已成为当前和下一阶段我国经济发展中必须关注的问题。本文对我国不同期限国债的名义和实际收益建立了含有宏观因子和潜在因子的仿射无套利模型,从通胀补偿中分解出了通胀预期。研究认为:分解出的短期和中期通胀预期与通胀率的动态关联性较强,而长期通胀预期和通胀率的动态关联性较弱;各期限通胀预期都不是理性预期,但中期和长期预期是适应性预期;发现CPI是影响通胀预期的最重要因素,其影响效果随着期限增加而增大;存款利率对通胀预期的影响效果次之,对短期和中期预期有正向影响,且随期限增加而减小,对长期预期有负向影响,且随期限增加而增大;但M2对通胀预期的影响并不显著;短期和中期通胀预期的事前和事后预测能力都优于央行调查预期。     

基于养老金入市的中国通胀指数债券定价与模拟

随着我国人口老龄化程度的不断加剧和养老金缺口的不断扩大，以及通货膨胀上行的压力，养老基金如何投资实现保值增值已经成为关系国家发展和社会稳定的重要课题。在此背景下本文构建了一个两因子连续时间定价模型，求解出风险中性测度下通胀指数债券的理论价格，并通过数值模拟分析了通胀指数债券对通货膨胀的抵御作用，以及名义利率、通货膨胀率、波动率和债券期限等因素对通胀指数债券价格的影响。研究表明：通胀指数债券价格与通货膨胀率、波动率正相关，与利率负相关，且波动率对通胀指数债券的影响系数要大于通货膨胀率，更大于利率；当预期通货膨胀率高于利率时，通胀指数债券会溢价发行，而且期限越长价格越高。本文的研究为养老基金多元化投资规避通胀风险、实现保值增值提供了可能，也为国家推进金融衍生工具的创新提供依据。     

Long‐Term Debt and Optimal Policy in the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level

The fiscal theory says that the price level is determined by the ratio of nominal debt to the present value of real primary surpluses. I analyze long‐term debt and optimal policy in the fiscal theory. I find that the maturity structure of the debt matters. For example, it determines whether news of future deficits implies current inflation or future inflation. When long‐term debt is present, the government can trade current inflation for future inflation by debt operations; this tradeoff is not present if the government rolls over short‐term debt. The maturity structure of outstanding debt acts as a “budget constraint” determining which periods' price levels the government can affect by debt variation alone. In addition, debt policy—the expected pattern of future state‐contingent debt sales, repurchases and redemptions—matters crucially for the effects of a debt operation. I solve for optimal debt policies to minimize the variance of inflation. I find cases in which long‐term debt helps to stabilize inflation. I also find that the optimal policy produces time series that are similar to U.S. surplus and debt time series. To understand the data, I must assume that debt policy offsets the inflationary impact of cyclical surplus shocks, rather than causing price level disturbances by policy‐induced shocks. Shifting the objective from price level variance to inflation variance, the optimal policy produces much less volatile inflation at the cost of a unit root in the price level; this is consistent with the stabilization of U.S. inflation after the gold standard was abandoned.     

中国商品期货回报与现货价格变化测度研究——基于便利收益模型的视角

本文基于便利收益模型(CYM)的视角推导出商品期限结构、期货回报并对期货回报进行分解。选取我国三个商品期货交易所相关数据作为样本,对我国商品期货回报与现货价格变化进行测度研究。研究发现,在样本期内,商品期货回报和现货价格变化之间不存在密切关系;以展期收益或预期现货价格变化为条件的商品风险溢价具有时变性;平均展期收益反映了现货价格变化对风险溢价的预期偏离;期货期限结构、便利收益和展期收益准确地预测了现货价格变化。上述研究结果为我国商品期货回报与现货价格变化的测度和管理以及商品期货投资决策设计提供了一些有帮助的理论借鉴和操作性较强的方法选择。     

On the Size Distribution of Macroeconomic Disasters

The coefficient of relative risk aversion is a key parameter for analyses of behavior toward risk, but good estimates of this parameter do not exist. A promising place for reliable estimation is rare macroeconomic disasters, which have a major influence on the equity premium. The premium depends on the probability and size distribution of disasters, gauged by proportionate declines in per capita consumption or gross domestic product. Long‐term national‐accounts data for 36 countries provide a large sample of disasters of magnitude 10% or more. A power‐law density provides a good fit to the size distribution, and the upper‐tail exponent, α, is estimated to be around 4. A higher α signifies a thinner tail and, therefore, a lower equity premium, whereas a higher coefficient of relative risk aversion, γ, implies a higher premium. The premium is finite if α > γ. The observed premium of 5% generates an estimated γ close to 3, with a 95% confidence interval of 2 to 4. The results are robust to uncertainty about the values of the disaster probability and the equity premium, and can accommodate seemingly paradoxical situations in which the equity premium may appear to be infinite.     

HJM框架下基于CPI的期限结构模型及其应用

通过假设实际远期利率、名义远期利率及通货膨胀指数所服从的扩散过程的波动项分别为二维、二维和三维布朗运动,建立了基于CPI的无套利期限结构模型,探讨了无套利期限结构与等价鞅测度之间的关系,并得到三因子利率期限结构变化的微分方程.最后推导出了基于CPI指数的欧式期权价格的解析解.     

AN ESTIMATED DYNAMIC STOCHASTIC GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODEL OF THE EURO AREA

This paper develops and estimates a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with sticky prices and wages for the euro area. The model incorporates various other features such as habit formation, costs of adjustment in capital accumulation and variable capacity utilization. It is estimated with Bayesian techniques using seven key macroeconomic variables: GDP, consumption, investment, prices, real wages, employment, and the nominal interest rate. The introduction of ten orthogonal structural shocks (including productivity, labor supply, investment, preference, cost‐push, and monetary policy shocks) allows for an empirical investigation of the effects of such shocks and of their contribution to business cycle fluctuations in the euro area. Using the estimated model, we also analyze the output (real interest rate) gap, defined as the difference between the actual and model‐based potential output (real interest rate). (JEL: E4, E5)     

WHY ARE THE 2000s SO DIFFERENT FROM THE 1970s? A STRUCTURAL INTERPRETATION OF CHANGES IN THE MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF OIL PRICES

In the 1970s, large increases in the price of oil were associated with sharp decreases in output and large increases in inflation. In the 2000s, even larger increases in the price of oil were associated with much milder movements in output and inflation. Using a structural VAR approach, Blanchard and Gali (in J. Gali and M. Gertler (eds.) 2009, International Dimensions of Monetary Policy, University of Chicago Press, pp. 373–428) argued that this reflected a change in the causal relation from the price of oil to output and inflation. They then argued that this change could be due to a combination of three factors: a smaller share of oil in production and consumption, lower real wage rigidity, and better monetary policy. Their argument, based on simulations of a simple new‐Keynesian model, was informal. Our purpose in this paper is to take the next step, and to estimate the explanatory power and contribution of each of these factors. To do so, we use a minimum distance estimator that minimizes, over the set of structural parameters and for each of two samples (pre‐ and post‐1984), the distance between the empirical SVAR‐based impulse response functions and those implied by a new‐Keynesian model. Our empirical results point to an important role for all three factors.     

Empirical Estimates of the NAIRU

Abstract. Empirical studies have found that the non‐accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) has been fluctuating in OECD countries around a constant mean of several percentage points over the past decades. This mean is calculated from the constant terms carried over from the wage and price growth equations. In this paper it is shown that a high proportion of the constant term is a statistical artefact and suggests a new method which yields approximately unbiased estimates of the time‐invariant NAIRU. Using data for OECD countries it is shown that the constant‐term correction lowers the unadjusted time‐invariant NAIRU by approximately half.     

货币政策非对称性与惰性区域的识别和检验

在对货币当局政策偏好分析的基础上,构建更为一般的货币政策反应模型,用于识别名义利率对通胀缺口和产出缺口的非线性和非对称调整特征以及货币政策对通货膨胀和产出变化的惰性属性。采用7天期银行间同业拆借加权平均利率作为名义利率的代理变量,对上述货币政策反应模型进行广义矩估计,并对参数进行约束检验。研究结果表明,中国货币政策对通货膨胀的调整存在明显的惰性区域,即当通货膨胀率在目标通货膨胀率的较小范围内波动时,利率并未针对通货膨胀与目标通货膨胀率的偏离做出调整,而当通货膨胀率与目标通货膨胀率的偏离(即通胀缺口)超过惰性区域时,货币当局开始针对通胀缺口调整利率,并且随着通胀缺口的增大,利率对通货膨胀的反应越来越强烈,存在明显的非线性调整特征。     

UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF THE US WAGE DISTRIBUTION: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

In this paper, we propose an analytically tractable overlapping‐generations model of human capital accumulation and study its implications for the evolution of the US wage distribution from 1970 to 2000. The key feature of the model, and the only source of heterogeneity, is that individuals differ in their ability to accumulate human capital. Therefore, wage inequality results only from differences in human capital accumulation. We examine the response of this model to skill‐biased technical change (SBTC) theoretically. We show that in response to SBTC, the model generates behavior consistent with some prominent trends observed in the US data including (i) a rise in overall wage inequality both in the short run and long run, (ii) an initial fall in the education premium followed by a strong recovery, leading to a higher premium in the long run, (iii) the fact that most of this fall and rise takes place among younger workers, (iv) a rise in within‐group inequality, (v) stagnation in median wage growth (and a slowdown in aggregate labor productivity), and (vi) a rise in consumption inequality that is much smaller than the rise in wage inequality. These results suggest that the heterogeneity in the ability to accumulate human capital is an important feature for understanding the effects of SBTC and interpreting the transformation of the US labor markets since the 1970s.     

Time Consistency of Fiscal and Monetary Policy: A Solution

This paper demonstrates how time consistency of the Ramsey policy—the optimal fiscal and monetary policy under commitment—can be achieved. Each government should leave its successor with a unique maturity structure for nominal and indexed debt, such that the marginal benefit of a surprise inflation exactly balances the marginal cost. Unlike in earlier papers on the topic, the result holds for quite general Ramsey policies, including time‐varying polices with positive inflation and positive nominal interest rates. We compare our results with those in Persson, Persson, and Svensson (1987), Calvo and Obstfeld (1990), and Alvarez, Kehoe, and Neumeyer (2004).     

PRICE‐LEVEL CHANGES AND THE REDISTRIBUTION OF NOMINAL WEALTH ACROSS THE EURO AREA

We show that unexpected price‐level movements generate sizable wealth redistribution in the Euro Area (EA), using sectoral accounts and newly available data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey. The EA as a whole is a net loser of unexpected price‐level decreases, with Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Spain losing most in per capita terms, and Belgium and Malta being net winners. Governments are net losers of deflation, while the household (HH) sector is a net winner in the EA as a whole. HHs in Belgium, Ireland, Malta, and Germany experience the biggest per capita gains, while HHs in Finland and Spain turn out to be net losers. Considerable heterogeneity exists also within the HH sector: relatively young middle class HHs are net losers of deflation, while older and richer HHs are winners. As a result, wealth inequality in the EA increases with unexpected deflation, although in some countries (Austria, Germany, and Malta) inequality decreases due to the presence of relatively few young borrowing HHs. We document that HHs' inflation exposure varies systematically across countries, with HHs in high‐inflation EA countries holding systematically lower nominal exposures.     

OPTIMAL MONETARY POLICY AND FINANCIAL STABILITY IN A NON‐RICARDIAN ECONOMY

I present a model with discontinuous asset‐market participation (DAMP), where all agents are non‐Ricardian, and where heterogeneity among market participants implies financial‐wealth effects on aggregate consumption. The implied welfare criterion shows that financial stability arises as an additional and independent target, besides inflation and output stability. Evaluation of optimal policy under discretion and commitment reveals that price stability may no longer be optimal, even absent inefficient supply shocks: some fluctuations in output and inflation may be optimal as long as they reduce financial instability. Ignoring the heterogeneity among market participants may lead monetary policy to induce substantially higher welfare losses.     

WHAT MEASURE OF INFLATION SHOULD A CENTRAL BANK TARGET?

This paper assumes that a central bank commits itself to maintaining an inflation target and then asks what measure of the inflation rate the central bank should use if it wants to maximize economic stability. The paper first formalizes this problem and examines its microeconomic foundations. It then shows how the weight of a sector in the stability price index depends on the sector's characteristics, including size, cyclical sensitivity, sluggishness of price adjustment, and magnitude of sectoral shocks. When a numerical illustration of the problem is calibrated to U.S. data, one tentative conclusion is that a central bank that wants to achieve maximum stability of economic activity should use a price index that gives substantial weight to the level of nominal wages. (JEL: E42, E52, E58)     

基于通货膨胀和风险偏好视角的资产配置研究

不确定条件下的资产配置问题无论对于学术研究还是投资行为都具有重大的理论和实际意义。本文选取广义范围上的现金、股票、债券作为投资者进行资产配置的产品,在CRRA(Constant Relative Risk Aversion)和HARA(Hyperbolic Absolute Risk Aversion)两种偏好假设下,分别求出了投资者效用最大化时的最优财富以及最优资产组合中各资产的权重,并比较分析了两种偏好假设下通货膨胀、风险偏好、投资期限三种因素对资产配置的影响。研究结论表明:通货膨胀会影响股票和债券的风险溢价,进而影响最优资产组合中各资产的权重;股票的权重不会受投资期限的影响,在通货膨胀率和风险偏好不变时,其值始终为一常数,但债券和现金的权重则由投资期限、通货膨胀和风险偏好共同决定;此外,在CRRA和HARA偏好假设下,以上三种因素对资产配置的影响存在较大差异,特别是在HARA框架下存在买空行为。     

Macroeconomic Conditions and the Distribution of Income in Spain

Abstract. This paper analyses the impact of changes in macroeconomic con ditions on the income distribution in Spain. Using household data from the Encuesta Continuada de Presupuestos Familiares (ECPF) from 1985 to 1996 we disentangle the effect of aggregate variables on the income distribution by estimating counterfactual densities conditional on different macroeconomic scenarios. In estimation, we use a semi‐parametric least squares procedure that allows a flexible interaction between the level of income and a first index of individual characteristics and a second index that captures the role of macroeconomic variables. We find that although inequality displays a decreasing trend over the earlier part of the period examined, the poor performance of the Spanish economy during the early 1990s appears to have reversed this trend. We also conclude that while inflation appears to have no impact on the distribution of income for the period examined, there were important redistributive roles for unemployment, government expenditure, and the level of GDP.     

BUILDING REPUTATION FOR CONTRACT RENEWAL: IMPLICATIONS FOR PERFORMANCE DYNAMICS AND CONTRACT DURATION

We study how career concerns affect the dynamics of incentives in a multi‐period contract, when the agent's productivity is a stochastic function of his past productivity and investment. We show that incentives are stronger and performance is higher when the contract approaches its expiry date. Contrary to common wisdom, long‐term contracts may strengthen reputational effects whereas short‐term contracting may be optimal when investment has persistent, long‐term effects.