Structural Vector Autoregressive Model Research Articles

Do disaggregated oil price shocks drive the Chinese non-ferrous metal market across different time horizons and quantiles?

ABSTRACT This study uses a wavelet-based quantile approach to document the effects of disaggregated oil shocks on the Chinese non-ferrous metal market under various time horizons and quantiles. Oil shocks are decomposed into supply, aggregate demand, and oil-specific demand shocks based on a structural vector autoregressive model. Empirical results suggest that oil shocks have notable impacts on the Chinese non-ferrous metal market in the middle and long term, whereas the impacts in the short term are not significant. The impacts remain remarkably heterogeneous across quantile levels in the long term. Oil supply shocks significantly affect the non-ferrous metal market positively, but only at higher quantiles. The positive effect of aggregate demand shocks and the negative effect of oil-specific demand shocks are significant at lower quantiles. Moreover, copper is susceptible to oil shocks, compared with aluminium. These findings provide several implications for policymakers and investors.

Macroeconomic responses to financial stress shocks: Evidence from the US and the Eurozone

This paper investigates the macroeconomic effects of an unexpected financial stress shock in the United States and the Eurozone, focusing mainly on the effect on unemployment and the response of monetary policy. First, we estimate Impulse Response Functions (IRFs) based on a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model with short-run restrictions according to economic theory. Next, we perform panel data analysis shedding light on the factors that affect unemployment in the two regions. Our findings indicate a significant impact of financial stress shocks on the macroeconomic environment, but with different policy responses from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The impact of higher financial stress on economic activity and employment is negative in both regions, but the duration of the impact on unemployment is shorter in the US, suggesting a quicker recovery in the US labor market compared to the Eurozone. The faster recovery of the US labor market is primarily due to the superior institutional and regulatory performance in the US. These findings provide policymakers with valuable lessons about the importance of continuous monitoring and quick action to mitigate the negative effects of financial instability on economic activity.

Oil price shocks and bond risk premia: Evidence from a Panel of 15 Countries

We study the effect of oil price shocks on bond risk premia. Based on Baumeister and Hamilton (2019), we identify the different sources of oil price shocks using a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model of the global market for crude oil. These structural factors are then used as unspanned factors in an affine term structure model based on the representation of Joslin et al. (2014). This is done for a total of 15 countries. Unspanned factors are responsible for most of the variability in bond risk premia for short holding periods, while spanned factors dominate the variance decomposition for longer holding periods. In both cases, global oil supply and global economic activity are clearly the most important unspanned shocks. A historical decomposition around the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis shows the clear influence of global economic activity shocks during the months of February and March 2020, increasing bond risk premia significantly.

Monetary shocks and house prices in Europe

PurposeThe aim of this study is to analyse the effect of conventional and unconventional monetary policy shocks on housing price dynamics in Europe (2000–2020). We propose a pan-European comparative analysis at a city market level, contrary to the previous literature.Design/methodology/approachWe build a quarterly market dataset for 13 European cities (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, London, Birmingham and Manchester). We proceed in two steps. First, we develop a structural VAR (vector autoregression) model. Second, we conduct a forecast error variance decomposition analysis.FindingsWe show that a contractionary policy rate has a negative influence on house prices with relevant differences. A balance sheet shock displays a heterogeneous effect on housing prices. Globally, we observe that a conventional monetary policy shock explains a larger share of total housing price variance than an unconventional monetary policy shock. Finally, our results report that conventional and unconventional monetary policy shocks have a greater impact in more liberalized credit markets.Originality/valueWe develop a pan-European analysis of house prices at a market level for a sample of 13 European cities. A parsimonious structural VAR model is used to study the dynamics of conventional and unconventional monetary policies on house prices in major European markets: Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, London, Birmingham and Manchester. Our results highlighting the relative importance of conventional and unconventional monetary shocks, identify the existence of heterogeneous effects of monetary policies in European city markets.

주식시장 수익률과 개인 투자자의 매매 성향

This study examines the relationship between individual investors and the KOSPI stock market using long-term data spanning 25 years from 1999 to 2023. However, this study analyzes the relationship between individual investors' net buys and KOSPI returns by dividing the entire period into five sun-periods of five years and applying two-sided regression and structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) models. The main findings are as follows: First, compared to foreign investors, both institutional and individual investors exhibit relatively higher turnover ratios. Second, cross-sectional analysis shows that KOSPI returns decrease monotonically with the individuals' net buys. Third, the results of the two-sided regressions indicate a Granger causality, where past returns negatively influence individual investors' net buys. In addition, today's individual net buys negatively Granger cause future returns. Fourth, the SVAR analysis also shows that KOSPI returns have a strong negative effect on individual net buys. Finally, according to the results of SVAR impulse response function, net buys response negatively to KOSPI shocks, and this response dissipates almost entirely by the third day. In summary, individual investors tend to engage in net selling in response to positive news in the KOSPI market, and this tendency may be a key reason for their lower performance.

This is going to hurt: Weather anomalies, supply chain pressures and inflation

As climate change accelerates, the frequency and severity of extreme weather events are expected to worsen and have greater adverse consequences for ecosystems, physical infrastructure, and economic activity across the world. This paper investigates how weather anomalies affect global supply chains and inflation dynamics. Using monthly data for six large and well-diversified economies (China, the Euro area, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States) over the period 1997–2021, we implement a structural vector autoregressive model and document that weather anomalies could disrupt supply chains and subsequently lead to inflationary pressures. Our results—based on the monthly data and robust to alternative estimation methodologies—show that these effects vary across countries, depending on the severity of weather shocks and vulnerability to supply chain disruptions. The impact of weather shocks on supply chains and inflation dynamics is likely to become more pronounced with accelerating climate change that can have heterogeneous effects. These findings have important policy implications. Central bankers should consider the impact of weather anomalies on supply chains and inflation dynamics to prevent entrenching second-round effects and de-anchoring of inflation expectations. More directly, however, governments can invest more for climate change adaptation to strengthen critical infrastructure and thereby minimize supply chain disruptions.

Determinants of Household and Professional Forecasters’ Inflation Expectations in India

ABSTRACTThis study analyses and compares the determinants of inflation expectations among households and professional forecasters in India. To this end, we utilize quarterly survey data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), specifically the Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH) and the Professional Forecasters’ Survey (SPF). The analysis employs a non‐recursive structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model to explore the relationships between variables. The impulse response function and variance decomposition analysis shed light on the response of inflation expectations to macroeconomic shocks. Our findings indicate that apart from conventional macroeconomic factors like realized inflation and monetary policy, exogenous factors such as oil prices significantly shape inflation expectations. Comparing IESH and SPF, we found out that household expectations are more sensitive to shocks related to food prices, reflecting the influence of food expenses on household decision‐making. Conversely, professional forecasters’ expectations are more influenced by core inflation. Finally, we observed that inflation expectations adjust more quickly than realized inflation in response to macroeconomic shocks, suggesting a leading role. This study is novel with the contribution to the existing literature as it provides a comparative analysis of determinants of inflation expectations between households and professional forecasters in India, while also considering inflation targeting as a significant factor.

Geopolitical risks and energy uncertainty: Implications for global and domestic energy prices

This paper investigates the interaction between global geopolitical risks and global energy uncertainty by focusing on their implications for global and domestic energy prices of 157 countries. The empirical investigation is based on a structural vector autoregression model covering the monthly sample period between 1996 m1-2022m10, where global real economic activity is controlled for. The results show that a unit shock to global geopolitical risk (normalized to one standard deviation) results in about 1.13 units of an increase in global energy uncertainty (normalized to one standard deviation) in the long run (after two years), whereas the corresponding effects on global energy prices are statistically insignificant. In contrast, a unit shock to global energy uncertainty results in about 52 % (57 %) of a reduction in global energy prices (global economic activity), acting like negative global demand shocks. When statistically significant country-specific results are considered in the long run, a positive shock to the global geopolitical risk affects domestic energy prices positively (negatively) in 10 % (10 %) of oil producing countries, 32.1 % (19.7 %) of non-oil producing countries, 47.2 % (0 %) of advanced economies, 55 % (0 %) of euro area countries, 25 % (22.4 %) of emerging markets, and 22.2 % (26.7 %) of developing countries. In comparison, a positive shock to the global energy uncertainty affects domestic energy prices positively (negatively) in 5 % (40 %) of oil producing countries, 3.6 % (54 %) of non-oil producing countries, 0 % (61.1 %) of advanced economies, 0 % (50 %) of euro area countries, 3.9 % (56.6 %) of emerging markets, and 6.7 % (37.8 %) of developing countries. Important policy implications follow regarding the energy security of countries.

Financial and market risks of bitcoin adoption as legal tender: evidence from El Salvador

Bitcoin adoption as a legal tender threatens a financial crisis because of the lack of regulatory frameworks and systems for exchanging Bitcoin into local currencies. This study analyzes monthly data from 2010 to 2022 using a structural vector autoregressive model, estimating Bitcoin’s pass-through into remittance, money multiplier, the US Dollar index, and gold price. The results show that Bitcoin prices decrease the money multiplier and gold prices in both the short and long run, while remittances moderately increase in the long run. The implication of these results suggests the potential for international business opportunities to stimulate the credit, savings, and investment monetary policy channel. The results are robust to alternative SVAR identification strategies.

A Structural Vector Autoregression Exploration of South Africa’s Monetary and Macroprudential Policy Interactions

Interactions between monetary and macroprudential policy are crucial in safeguarding price and financial stability. This study investigates the macroeconomic and financial impacts of monetary and macroprudential policy interactions in South Africa, a leading African economy in developing macroprudential frameworks. The existing literature largely focuses on the effectiveness of these policies independently, leaving a gap in understanding how their interaction affects their overall efficacy. Employing a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model and utilizing data from 1980 to 2023, this study uniquely incorporates the financial cycle to represent financial developments. The results reveal significant effects of both policies on key variables such as output, the financial cycle, and the price level. Specifically, policy contractions reduce output and the financial cycle but increase the price level, illustrating the ‘price puzzle’. This study further identifies an endogenous response between the two policies: monetary policy reacts by rising to reduce price levels following a macroprudential shock, while macroprudential policy rises to stimulate financial activity after a monetary shock. These findings underscore the importance of using both policies in conjunction but in opposite directions to balance their effects and achieve price and financial stability. This study suggests that an optimal combination of monetary and macroprudential policies is critical for maintaining macroeconomic equilibrium.

Verbal attacks on terrorist groups increase violence against civilians

Abstract Terrorists and other transnational extremist groups are responsible for thousands of civilian deaths. In confronting extremists, governments have relied heavily on threats, demands, denunciations, and other forms of verbal conflict. Do these efforts at verbal coercion have any effect on terrorist behavior? This analysis focuses on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which continues to be the world's deadliest terrorist group and was responsible for recent high-profile attacks in Baghdad, Vienna, Kabul, and Russia. We use Bayesian structural vector autoregression models to analyze daily event data on interactions between ISIS and foreign governments for the 2014–2020 period. We find that verbal conflict initiated by governments not only failed to deter ISIS but in fact increased the frequency of ISIS's attacks on civilians. Additional empirical analyses, combined with evidence from ISIS's publications and public statements, suggest that this effect resulted from a perceived credibility deficit. Extremists use terror attacks to signal that they have the capabilities and willingness to inflict pain and suffering on civilian targets. Government attempts to coerce extremist groups verbally, rather than militarily, reflect an underestimation of the group's capabilities and resolve. In an effort to solidify their reputations, extremists engage in further violence toward civilians, thus leading to worse humanitarian consequences. We extend the analysis to Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Boko Haram and find similar results.

Analysis of the Combined Impact of Socio-Economic Factors on House Price Volatility in the Housing Market

As an important variable in China’s economic system, real estate price is a key point closely linked to the country’s economy and people’s livelihood. It is of great practical significance to study the impact of socio-economic factors in the housing market on China’s house prices and its transmission mechanism, so as to put forward corresponding policy recommendations for stabilizing house prices and preventing real estate market and financial risks. Taking China’s time series data from 2014 to 2023 as a sample, this paper empirically investigates the law of the relationship between socio-economic factors in the housing market and house price fluctuations by constructing a structural vector autoregressive model, and employs impulse response function and variance decomposition to analyze the relationship between the two dynamically. The study shows that the 15-period variance decomposition effect of itself and residents’ disposable income are the main influencing factors of house price fluctuation, and the degree of explanation of its fluctuation is 55.5% and 23.2% respectively. In a market economy, real estate prices fluctuate up and down around their value due to the law of value. Therefore, real estate prices cannot rise indefinitely, and the final result should be stabilized within a reasonable level.

Global economic policy uncertainty and oil price uncertainty: Which is more important for global economic activity?

Using monthly data spanning from January 1997 to November 2022, this paper investigates the influence of global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU) and oil price uncertainty (OPU) on global economic activity using a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model. The findings from the baseline model reveal the adverse effects of both GEPU and OPU shocks on the global economy. The counterfactual analysis highlights that the negative impact of OPU shocks primarily stems from direct effects, while approximately half of the adverse impact of GEPU shocks is indirectly transmitted through amplifying OPU. Further examination of the indirect effects of these shocks uncovers that lagged effects primarily drive the indirect impact of OPU, whereas the indirect impact of GEPU is mainly driven by common shocks. These findings suggest a more substantial and independent impact of OPU shocks compared to GEPU shocks. Additionally, employing a time-varying vector autoregressive with stochastic volatility (TVP-VAR-SV) model, this paper explores the same dataset. The results of time-varying impulse responses illustrate a diminishing effect of GEPU shocks over the sample period, whereas the impact of OPU shocks initially decreases before subsequently increasing.

Do petrol prices affect inflation and inflation expectations? Evidence from New Zealand

Due to their high visibility, petrol prices shape households' inflation expectations. This paper investigates the dynamic effects of petrol price shocks on one- and five-year inflation expectations in New Zealand; effects on headline and core inflation are also analyzed. Estimating partially identified structural vector autoregression models using Bayesian techniques, we show that petrol price shocks had a slightly delayed but persistent effect on one-year inflation expectations, whereas five-year inflation expectations were largely insensitive to these shocks. We also show that headline inflation increased immediately in response to petrol price shocks, while core inflation remained unaffected. Counterfactual analysis reveals that inflation and inflation expectations would have been higher in the absence of petrol price shocks during the second half of 2020. The results underscore the importance of petrol prices in influencing households' short-term inflation expectations, offering valuable insights for policymakers focused on managing the cost of living and inflation expectations in New Zealand.

G20 systemic risk: Are structural oil price shocks driving factors?

Investigating systemic risk and its driving factors has always been a hot topic. Based on this, we combine the tail-event driven network (TENET) and structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model to study characteristics of G20 systemic risk and the impact of structural oil price shocks on it. The results of TENET model are as follows: From a systemic perspective, G20 systemic risk is high and exhibits significant time-varying characteristics. It can reflect periods of economic stress. From a group perspective, systemic risk in developing countries is often higher than developed countries and is more susceptible to extreme events. The systemic risk in developing countries mainly transmits and receives within the group. The systemic risk in developed countries is more balanced in its sources and mainly releases risk to developing countries. From an individual perspective, the risk spillover in G20 stock markets shows significant regional characteristics. Additionally, Argentina is most sensitive to G20 systemic risk, while India exhibits the strongest risk spillover to other G20 members. The results of SVAR model are as follows: Oil price shocks are important factors in explaining changes in G20 systemic risk, with the most significant being specific demand shock. The supply shock exacerbates systemic risk. The aggregate demand shock increases systemic risk in the short term but reduce it in the long term. The specific demand shock significantly reduces systemic risk. Against the backdrop of increasing uncertainty and economic globalization, these findings are of great significance for accurately identifying key points in regulatory frameworks and mitigating systemic risk.

Monetary policy transmission dynamics: evidence from Indian financial markets

ABSTRACT Our study employs a non-recursive Structural Vector Autoregressive Model (SVAR) to examine to how monetary policy signals transmit across the money, treasury bills, bonds, forex, and the stock market in India and in the process unravel the relative efficacy of various monetary policy signalling instruments on these financial market variables. This exercise is conducted for two distinct monetary policy regimes -Multiple Indicator Regime and Flexible Inflation Targeting Regime. Our results indicate that the transmission of monetary policy differs not only across various segments of the financial markets, but is also sensitive to the choice of monetary policy instruments used by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under different regimes. In a bid to heighten the efficacy of monetary policy signals it is hence suggestive that developing economies with high inflation should move towards an inflation targeting regime.

How Important are Commodity Terms of Trade Shocks in Explaining Government Tax Revenue Fluctuations? Evidence from Ethiopia

Using a new database of commodity terms of trade and identifying country-specific commodity export and import price shocks separately, this article mainly aims to examine the importance of commodity export and import price shocks in explaining government tax revenue fluctuations using Ethiopia as an example over the sample period 1980–2019. This article employs a structural vector autoregressive model and forecast error variance decomposition analysis to address this objective. The results show that commodity export and import price shocks account for around 48% of government tax revenue fluctuations. While commodity export price shocks contribute to around 37% of fluctuations in government tax revenue, commodity import price shocks account for only 11% of government tax revenue fluctuations. These findings are discussed in terms of their policy implications. JEL Classification C32, F41, F44

Setting the tone: the diffusion of moral and moral-emotional appeals across political and public discourse

Abstract Whether a topic is seen in a moral or moral-emotional light has significant political implications. Yet, we lack knowledge about the process of moralization: Who defines the way topics are communicated about? Where prior research has investigated the relative power of different actors to place a topic on the agenda or shape opinions, we study who sets the moral and moral-emotional tone of debate. To do so, we zoom in on immigration discourse in Germany and analyze fine-grained social media data from politicians, political parties, newspapers, and members of the public over a period of more than four years. After employing a transformer model to identify moral and moral-emotional appeals, we use structural vector autoregression models to demonstrate the important role of radical-right challengers in shaping public discourse in a negative moral-emotional direction. The results inform theories of moralization and political entrepreneurship.

Long-Run Trade Relationship between the U.S. and Canada: The Case of the Canadian Dollar with the U.S. Dollar

This study investigates the long-run relationship between the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar by analyzing the bilateral exchange rate induced by nominal and real shocks. The methodology centers on a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model, including the analysis of impulse response and variance decomposition to account for the impact of nominal and real shocks on exchange rate movements. This study also decomposes real shocks into demand and supply factors from both Canada and the U.S. and compares their impacts on the nominal and real exchange rates. The results are compared to shocks driven by country-specific nominal factors. This study uses quarterly data from December 1972 to December 2023. The findings suggest that real shocks have a permanent impact on both the nominal and real exchange rates, compared to nominal shocks, which have a temporary impact. Country-specific real supply-side factors have a more significant impact than country-specific real demand-side factors. Country-specific nominal factors barely impacted the nominal and real exchange rates between the U.S. and Canada.

Debt erosion: Asymmetric response to demand and supply shocks

This paper explores the effect of inflation supply and demand shocks on government debt for a sample of 32 advanced economies and 24 emerging markets from 1970 to 2022. The shocks are identified using a sign-restricted structural vector autoregression model with quarterly data. Estimations of dynamic panel regressions and local projections suggest that supply shocks lead to persistent increases in government debt, while demand shocks result in long-lasting declines. Furthermore, high debt levels amplify the impacts of both supply and demand shocks by more than three times. Specifically, supply shocks contribute to an increase in debt through elevated borrowing costs and prolonged depreciation, whereas demand shocks erode debt through persistent improvements in the primary balance, driven by increased revenues.