BIDIRECTIONAL LINKAGE between inflation and inflation uncertainty: case of Serbia

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty for the EU candidate countries: Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Turkey. Using the GARCH model, inflation uncertainty was assessed for each of the observed countries, with the EGARH model proving to be the best model for all countries. The results of the Granger causality test between inflation and inflation uncertainty showed that inflation affects the growth of inflation uncertainty in the case of Serbia, North Macedonia and Turkey and that the growth of inflation leads to the growth of uncertainty, thus confirming the Friedman-Ball hypothesis. On the other hand, the results showed that inflation uncertainty affects the growth of inflation and that the growth of inflation uncertainty affects the growth of inflation in the case of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro, which is in accordance with Cukierman and Meltzer's hypothesis.

رابطه میان تورم و نااطمینانی آن می تواند تحت تأثیر رژیم های تورمی مختلف قرار گیرد . تحقیقات انجام شده در ایران، نقش این رژیم ها در ارتباط پویای تورم و نااطمینانی را بررسی نکرده اند. به‌منظور پرکردن این خلأ در ادبیات اقتصاد ایران، این مقاله به مطالعه رابطه میان تورم و نااطمینانی آن با وجود انتقال رژیم و با توجه به رفتار نامتقارن الگو می پردازد. برای دستیابی به این هدف از تبدیل مارکوف در چارچوب یک الگوی تعمیم یافته گارچ نامتقارن استفاده می گردد. به این منظور دو معادله به ترتیب برای تورم و نااطمینانی آن، برای دوره (2013:07-1990:03) برآورد می گردد. معادله اول تحت دو رژیم فشار تورمی فزاینده وکاهنده و معادله دوم رفتار در دو وضعیت نوسانات تورمی زیاد و کم برآورد می شود. برآوردها نشان می دهد که اثر نااطمینانی تورم بر سطح تورم در رژیم فشار تورمی فزاینده، مثبت اما در رژیم فشار تورمی کاهنده، منفی است. همچنین در وضعیت نوسانات تورمی زیاد، افزایش تورم باعث ازدیاد نااطمینانی اما در وضعیت نوسانات تورمی کم، سطح تورم بر نااطمینانی تورم تأثیری ندارد. اثرات تکانه های مثبت قیمتی بر نااطمینانی بیش تر از تکانه های منفی می باشد و احتمال ماندگاری در هر وضعیت تورمی در ایران بالا است. با توجه به نتایج، به نظر می رسد که اتخاذ سیاست های تثبیت قیمت ها نه‌تنها در کاهش تورم بلکه در کاهش نااطمینانی تورم نیز نقش مهمی دارند؛ بنابراین، پیشنهاد می گردد که دولت و به‌ویژه بانک مرکزی از اتخاذ سیاست های اقتصادی که به نااطمینانی تورم دامن می زند، اجتناب نماید. ازجمله نتایج مهم دیگر این تحقیق که باید مورد توجه مسئولین پولی قرار گیرد، اهمیت تشخیص درست و به‌موقع نوع رژیم تورمی کشور برای اتخاذ سیاست مناسب است.

Inflation uncertainty causes macroeconomic ills and instability in the economy. This paper investigates if rising levels of inflation uncertainty serve as a source of higher inflation outcomes or vice versa, to determine if inflation uncertainty is potentially a self‐fulfilling prophecy. In addition, this paper examines the impact of inflation targeting, implemented in South Africa in February 2000, on the level of inflation and inflation uncertainty. Using a generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and GARCH‐in‐mean model and monthly data spanning the period 1970:01 to 2022:05, the empirical outcomes from this study suggest the existence of a bi‐directional relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty, with strong evidence in favour of the Friedman–Ball hypothesis and weaker evidence in support of the Cukierman–Meltzer hypothesis. This study also finds that inflation targeting has contributed significantly to reducing the level of inflation and inflation uncertainty since its adoption as policy framework. Time‐varying Granger causality tests accounting for instabilities underscore the above results, namely that inflation uncertainty led to increased inflation uncertainty in the full pre‐inflation targeting period, whereas increased uncertainty led to increased inflation only during the decade preceding inflation targeting. The results heed important policy implications, as it is imperative that inflation is kept low, stable and predictable.

This article examines the relationship between inflation and inflationuncertainty in Iranian economy for the period 1369:1 to 1385:3 .The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that inflation uncertainty increases at higher levels of inflation. Analysis of this study is based on the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (which allow the conditional variance of the error term to be time-varying). Since this variance is a proxy for inflation uncertainty, a positive relationship between the conditional variance and inflation would be interpreted as an evidence that inflation uncertainty increases with the level of inflation. Our findings indicate that inflation causes inflation uncertainty as there is a significant positive relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty. According to this result the role of Central Bank of Iran is so crucial in reducing inflation uncertainty by conducting proper policies.

This paper explores bidirectional linkage between inflation and its uncertainty by observing monthly data of 11 Eastern European countries. The methodological approach comprises two steps. First, inflation uncertainty series have been created by choosing an optimal Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity- (GARCH) type model. Subsequently, inflation and inflation uncertainty have been observed together by two models examining whether Friedman's and Cukierman–Meltzer's hypotheses hold for selected Eastern Europe Countries (EEC). Due to the heterogeneous behaviour of some series of inflation and inflation uncertainty, the unconditional quantile regression estimation technique has been applied because of its robustness to the particular non-normal characteristics and outliers’ presence in the empirical data. According to the findings, both Friedman's and Cukierman–Meltzer's hypotheses have been confirmed primarily for the largest EEC with flexible exchange rate. In contrast, these theories are refuted in smaller, open economies with firm exchange rate regime.

This study examines the dynamic relationship between monthly inflation and inflation uncertainty in Japan, the US and the UK by employing linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests for the 1957: 01–2006: 10 period. Using a generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model to generate a measure of inflation uncertainty, the empirical evidence from the linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests indicate a bidirectional causality between the series. The estimates from both the linear vector autoregressive (VAR) and nonparametric regression models show that higher inflation rates lead to greater inflation uncertainty for all countries as predicted by Friedman (1977). Although VAR estimates imply no significant impact, except for Japan, nonparametric estimates show that inflation uncertainty raises average inflation in all countries, as suggested by Cukierman and Meltzer (1986). Thus, inflation and inflation uncertainty have a positive predictive content for each other, supporting the Friedman and Cukierman-Meltzer hypotheses, respectively.

This study examines the causal nexus between inflation and inflation uncertainty. In this regard, conventional Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models and Stochastic Volatility (SV) models are used to measure inflation uncertainty and Bai and Perron (Econometrica 66:47–78, 1998; J Appl Econom 18:1–22, 2003) test is used to identify structural breaks in inflation. The empirical evidence derived from the monthly data for the period from June 1961 to April 2011 suggests that the measure of inflation uncertainty obtained from SV model is more reliable than the measure obtained from GARCH model and also the causal nexus between inflation and inflation uncertainty seems to be significantly conditional upon the measure of uncertainty used. The structural break test identifies four episodes of inflation during the sample period, and the causality between inflation and its variability varies across different episodes. The inflation and its variance seem to be independent of each other during the first two regimes that cover the period from 1960 to 1980 and on the contrary, during the later period largely bidirectional causality is observed. Further, inflation seems to exert positive impact on inflation uncertainty, whereas inflation uncertainty has negative impact on inflation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish a link between inflation uncertainty and interest rates for five inflation‐targeting countries.Design/methodology/approachThe approach takes the form of a time‐varying parameter model with a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) specification, used to derive impulse uncertainty and structural uncertainty.FindingsThis study attempts to establish a link between inflation uncertainty and interest rates for five inflation‐targeting countries, i.e. Canada, Finland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Decomposing inflation uncertainty into two components – impulse and structural, a positive association was found between the expected inflation and interest rates. Structural uncertainty has a positive and significant effect on interest rates for some countries. It has also been found that the long‐run effects of inflation on interest rates are less than unity for the post‐inflation targeting period, which implies that in some respect the Central Bank has been successful in targeting inflation. This has allowed the Central Bank to employ a less restrictive monetary policy in an environment of a credible inflation‐targeting strategy.Research limitations/implicationsExponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) can be used instead of GARCH modelling.Originality/valueThis is the first study that has tried to establish the link between different types of inflation uncertainty and interest rates for the inflation‐targeting countries to see the effect of inflation targeting.

This study examines the information flow between inflation and inflation uncertainty (IU) and intrastate inflationary trend among some ECOWAS member states. IU is measured using GARCH models and stochastic volatility model (SV). Transfer entropy was adopted to quantify the extent of information flow. The result showed information flow exists from inflation to the GARCH measure of IU. On the reverse flow from inflation uncertainty to inflation, there is no information flow except for Burkina Faso and Gambia which have asymmetric bidirectional flow between inflation and IU. Adopting SV measure for IU, there are no support for causality from inflation to IU for all the member states except Burkina Faso and Cabo Verde. For the reverse flow, causality exists in all the member states. On the pairwise inflation trend of member states, inflation trends are interconnected and that shocks in one country may transmit to others except for Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. Specifically, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria inflation shocks have the greatest effect on other WAMZ members within the study period, whereas inflation trend in Benin, Niger and Cote d’Ivoire are the most influential among WAEMU states. In conclusion, inflation - IU relationship is sensitive to how IU is measured leading to mixed findings. This study recommends the need for price stability among the ECOWAS member states. Given the interdependence among some members of each bloc of ECOWAS, policy synchronization on price stability could enhance the overall objective of single digit inflation and reduce the welfare effect of inflation uncertainty.

Pharmaceutical productions are recognized as an essential commodity in the economical literature; therefore, an increase in their prices leads to an increase in the household budget. Currently, about 15-20% of the entire health expenditure in Iran is allocated to the pharmaceutical sector. This study aimed to investigate the effect of inflation and its uncertainty on inflation in pharmaceutical prices in Iran. In this study, the monthly time series of consumer price index from 2001 to 2017 was used to calculate inflation uncertainty based on a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model. Hylleberg-Engle-Granger-Yoo test was performed to determine the stationary of the data. Feasibility tests were also used to explore the application of Autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity family models to these data. The causal relationship between inflation uncertainty and inflation in the pharmaceutical sector was investigated using the Granger causality test. A causal relationship was found between inflation and inflation uncertainty at the 95% confidence interval for the monthly data during the study. It was revealed that Inflation uncertainty did not affect the inflation in the pharmaceutical prices, but inflation can be a cause of pharmaceutical inflation. Although inflation uncertainty has no association with pharmaceutical inflation, it seems that it could affect pharmaceutical inflation through inflation in other sectors. Therefore, adopting appropriate monetary policies aimed at controlling liquidity and inflation can effectively control pharmaceutical prices.

On inflation and inflation uncertainty in the G7 countries

Problem statement: In this study, we tried to examine the relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty in Iran, because of considerable variation in its inflation rate. Approach: Inflation uncertainty is the major cost of high inflation that can influence the decision making of economic agents. Results: This study constructed a time series of seasonally inflation uncertainty in Iran from 1959-2009 and investigated the relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty. We modeled inflation uncertainty at time varying process through EARCH framework. Also, the asymmetric and consistence behavior of inflation uncertainty was analyzed by using this method. The result showed that there was an asymmetric relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty and shocks inflation uncertainties do not die out rapidly. Thus, the positive shocks had a greater effect on uncertainty rather than negative shocks. In final, we investigated from the Granger Causality test that inflation was Granger Causality of inflation uncertainty. Conclusion/Recommendations: The results of study recommend to aiming at low average inflation rates in order to reduce the negative consequences of inflation uncertainty.

Friedman's hypothesis regarding the relationship between inflation, inflation uncertainty and output growth states that full employment policy objective of the government tends to increase the rate of inflation which increases the uncertainty about the future course of inflation. Increase in inflation uncertainty lowers economic efficiency and reduces output growth. There are very few studies for underdeveloped countries particularly for India regarding the relationship between inflation, inflation uncertainty and output growth. Thornton's (2006) study regarding the relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty in India is univariate in nature and it cannot establish the relationship between inflation uncertainty and output growth. This study intends use the bivariate GARCH model to find out the relation between inflation, inflation uncertainty and output growth simultaneously. In this study we use monthly data of wholesale price index (WPI) and index of industrial production (IIP) of India as the proxies of price and output respectively from 1950:1 to 2011:12. Following Fountas, Karanasos and Kim (2002) we have used the following bivariate GARCH model to estimate simultaneously the means, variances and covariances of inflation and output growth. We use Granger- causality test to know the statistical relationship between average inflation, output growth, inflation uncertainty and output growth uncertainty. We find strong evidence that increase in average inflation raises inflation uncertainty and increase in growth rate increases the growth rate uncertainty. But we do not find any statistically significant relationship between inflation uncertainty and output growth rate.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the literature on the relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty by examining three Caribbean countries: the Bahamas, Barbados, and Jamaica.Design/methodology/approachARMA‐GARCH models are used to estimate inflation uncertainty along with Granger‐causality tests to infer the relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty.FindingsThe results reveal that both the Bahamas and Jamaica exhibit a high degree of volatility persistence in response to inflationary shocks, while Barbados has a much lower persistence measure. Granger‐causality tests indicate that an increase in inflation has been a positive impact on inflation uncertainty for each country. However, an increase in inflation uncertainty yields a decrease in inflation in the case of Jamaica. In summary, the results for the Bahamas and Barbados support the Friedman‐Ball hypothesis, whereas the results for Jamaica support Holland's stabilization‐motive hypothesis.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research on inflation and inflation uncertainty can be extended to incorporate possible regime shifts associated with fiscal and monetary policy.Originality/valueThe study fills a void in the literature with respect to the inflation‐inflation uncertainty nexus for Caribbean countries. The results of the paper may be useful to policymakers in the formulation of fiscal and monetary policy.

This paper investigates how inflation and its uncertainty impact GDP growth in eight Central and Eastern European Countries. Inflation uncertainty series are created examining several GARCH models in combination with three different distribution functions, while the nonlinear effect of inflation and its uncertainty on GDP growth is assessed in the Bayesian quantile regression framework. We find that inflation has significantly smaller negative effect on GDP growth than inflation uncertainty, which confirms the Friedman hypothesis. This means that inflation in the selected countries has an indirect impact on GDP growth via inflation uncertainty. We find that countries with smaller economy, such as Latvia and Estonia experience more adverse effect from inflation uncertainty in both upturn and downturn conditions, probably because they are vulnerable to external inflationary shocks. As for the countries with bigger economy, inflation uncertainty shocks diminish GDP growth only in conditions when output growth is very low or negative.