Research
Redistribution can boost demand but cut output, warns Fed working paper
Richmond Fed working paper points out that although taking from the rich to give to the poor can boost aggregate demand, it may also disincentivise work
Credit-strapped Canadians continued to consume in wake of crisis
Lending supply effect ensured households compensated for scarce credit by drawing down liquid assets instead, according to Bank of Canada research paper
Forward guidance ‘escape clause' increases effectiveness, says Colombian paper
Incorporating a threshold into forward guidance means central banks can change course when economic conditions dictate - meaning it is welfare-improving
Belgian paper presents new productivity indicators
Researchers from across Europe attempt to tackle the difficulty of comparing firm-level data across the continent by creating a new database of productivity indicators for Europe
Asia weathered crisis better thanks to lessons of the '90s
The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s led the countries affected to implement policies that stood them in good stead for the global crisis of the past few years
Greek paper raises ‘red flag’ over Emu integration
Researcher from Bank of Greece analyses the impact of the Economic and Monetary Union on financial market integration by assessing its effect on capital holdings
Devaluation would not hit Albanian short-run trade balance, research suggests
Evaluation of Albanian trade with its biggest trading partners finds little evidence of the deterioration in trade balance suggested by the ‘J-curve' hypothesis
IMF statisticians create composite index of financial inclusion
A working paper outlines the design of the index and then applies it to a sample of 31 countries; Maldives comes out on top while Chad gets the wooden spoon
Wages more sticky in the US than in Japan, BoJ paper finds
The empirical fit of the New Keynesian Wage Phillips Curve is generally superior for Japan, auhors note; inflation indexation plays a key role in the US, but is less important in Japan, they add
Finnish paper finds forecast errors correlate with subjective uncertainty, not 'disagreement'
Paper analyses forecasts in the ECB's Survey of Professional Forecasters and the US Survey of Professional Forecasters to find the best predictor of errors
Policy must do more to get women and low-skilled into work, paper finds
Slovak economists analyse the elasticity of labour supply and find that changes in the tax and benefits system could entice women in particular into the workforce
Sepa obstacles have 'not evaporated completely’, warns Finland paper
Bank of Finland researcher finds the advent of the Single Euro Payments Area has not removed all of the barriers to ‘a true domestic products and services market’
Forex loans helped Hungarian firms invest more - until the forint fell in the ‘great recession'
Working paper finds Hungarian firms that borrowed in foreign currencies invested more before the crisis, but experienced a negative balance sheet effect thereafter
Study finds support for Reserve Bank of Fiji's targeting of overnight policy rate
Working paper uses quarterly data for a 10-year period, 'comprehensively estimating all potential money demand equations within the ambit of monetary policy'
Price-setters still expect Sarb to miss inflation target
The South African Reserve Bank has succeeded in persuading analysts it will keep inflation within its target band, but price-setters' expectations remain higher
Home repossession rules explain Europe's divergent debt profiles, paper finds
Discussion paper published by the Deutsche Bundesbank says differences in legal processes explain the ‘striking differences’ in debt profiles of each eurozone country
ECB paper tests resilience of Polish economy to interest rate shocks
Researchers find that output and prices in Poland have become more resilient to both interest rate and exchange rate shocks over the past two decades
One in five Albanians has never heard of current or savings accounts
According to survey data analysed in Bank of Albania working paper, less than half of respondents know the concept of interest rates, but 80% understands the workings of inflation
Reserve requirements may speed up development of capital markets, Peruvian paper finds
Central bank reserve requirements dampen credit cycles in periods of capital inflows and reduce their expansionary effects on aggregate demand, according to central bank working paper
'Coupling' of domestic bonds to foreign markets increases in turbulent times
Chilean corporate bond returns are affected by long-term government bond returns and by foreign macroeconomic shocks in the eurozone and the US
Italian paper finds difficulties in risk weighting sovereign debt
Researchers at the Bank of Italy warn that applying higher risk weights to sovereign debt could be detrimental to banks’ funding conditions
IMF paper finds highly indebted nations can still grow fast
Results of a new study contradict findings of Reinhart and Rogoff, who argued that growth declines at debt of more than 90% of GDP
Countercyclical prudential policies have ‘important implications' for monetary policy
Using a countercyclical macro-prudential instrument in addition to manipulating interest rates improves welfare, IMF paper finds
Nigerian interest rates have 'weak effect' on real economy, CBN working paper finds
Paper examines the process by which Nigerian interest rate policy affects the structure of interest rates, credit, aggregate demand and output production