scholarly journals News-Driven Business Cycles: Insights and Challenges

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 993-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Beaudry ◽  
Franck Portier
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Economic Fluctuations ◽  
Aggregate Fluctuations ◽  
Business Cycle Fluctuations ◽  
Widespread Belief ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The Many

There is a widespread belief that changes in expectations may be an important independent driver of economic fluctuations. The news view of business cycles offers a formalization of this perspective. In this paper we discuss mechanisms by which changes in agents' information, due to the arrival of news, can cause business cycle fluctuations driven by expectational change, and we review the empirical evidence aimed at evaluating their relevance. In particular, we highlight how the literature on news and business cycles offers a coherent way of thinking about aggregate fluctuations, while at the same time we emphasize the many challenges that must be addressed before a proper assessment of the role of news in business cycles can be established. (JEL D83, D84, E13, E32, O33)

scholarly journals The role of inventories for the propagation of aggregate fluctuations: lessons for Bulgaria (1999–2019)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Vasilev
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Aggregate Fluctuations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumption Volatility ◽  
Business Cycle Fluctuations ◽  
The Government ◽  
Rbc Models ◽  
Quantitative Importance

PurposeIn this study, inventories are introduced as a productive input into a real-business-cycle (RBC) setup augmented with the government.Design/methodology/approachThe model is calibrated to Bulgarian data for the period 1999–2019. The quantitative importance of the presence of inventories is investigated.FindingsThe quantitative effect of inventories is found to be important: decreasing consumption volatility and increasing employment variability. Those results, however, are at the expense of decreasing wage volatility and increasing investment volatility, and generally worsening the contemporaneous correlations of the main variables with output.Originality/valueFluctuations in inventory levels matter for business cycle fluctuations in Bulgaria, which is a novel result. Still, there is a need for more research on the incorporation of inventories into RBC models to better fit the Bulgarian experience.

ASYMMETRY AND THE AMPLITUDE OF BUSINESS CYCLE FLUCTUATIONS: A QUANTITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL FRICTIONS

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoj Atolia ◽  
John Gibson ◽  
Milton Marquis
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Financial Frictions ◽  
Quantitative Investigation ◽  
Macroeconomic Volatility ◽  
Access To Credit ◽  
Business Cycle Fluctuations ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Business Cycle

We examine the quantitative significance of financial frictions that reduce firms' access to credit in explaining asymmetric business cycles characterized by disproportionately severe downturns. Using rate spread data to calibrate the severity of these frictions, we successfully match several key features of U.S. data. Specifically, although output and consumption are relatively symmetric (with output being slightly more asymmetric), investment and hours worked display significant asymmetry over the business cycle. We also demonstrate that our financial frictions are capable of significantly amplifying adverse shocks during severe downturns. Although the data suggest that these frictions are only active occasionally, our results indicate that they are still a significant source of macroeconomic volatility over the business cycle.

Business-cycle fluctuations in economic activity

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-125
Author(s):  
Jesper Rangvid
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Business Cycle Fluctuations ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
Two Phases

This chapter explains what the business cycle is and what causes business-cycle fluctuations. We call fluctuations in economic activity around the long-term growth trend ‘the business cycle’. The business cycle consists of two phases. The first is a period of strong economic activity. The second, following the first, is a period of weak economic activity. We call the first phase of the business cycle an ‘expansion’ and the second phase a ‘contraction’ or ‘recession’. The chapter explains what causes business cycles, and examines the empirical evidence on the lengths and strengths of the typical business cycle. It finds that expansions typically last longer than recessions. The chapter also shows that the length of expansions has increased during recent decades.

scholarly journals Business Cycles in Algerian Economy: A Bayesian DSGE Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-100
Author(s):  
Abdelsalam BOUKHEROUFA
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Equilibrium Model ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Aggregate Demand ◽  
Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium ◽  
Business Cycle Fluctuations ◽  
Output Fluctuations ◽  
Dynamic Stochastic

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the most important shocks that drives the business cycles in the Algerian economy. Using Bayesian estimation techniques, we estimate a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model (DSGE) using four time series of the Algerian macroeconomics. Through this estimated model, which succeeded in capturing the dynamics of the Algerian economy data, we found three main results: First, the main causes of business cycle fluctuations in the Algerian economy are aggregate demand shocks. Second, the of government spending shock play the most important role in output fluctuations. Third, empirical results show evidences of procyclical in government spending policies.

scholarly journals BUSINESS CYCLE – GROWTH NEXUS: A REVIEW

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-538
Author(s):  
Marinko ŠKARE ◽  
Daniel TOMIĆ
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Empirical Testing ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Cycle Growth ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Theoretical Reasoning

Frequent reversals in business cycles pose the question whether country can achieve macroeconomic stability and/or economic growth by coordinating its economic policies. Thus, what is the role of economic policy within the short/long run in amplifying or dampening shocks? Business cycle – economic growth relationship is rather ambiguous and has, thus, attracted controversy. In this sense the (dis)belief that there indeed exists a relationship between the economic growth and business cycle, and their long-run convergence brings us to three important hypotheses that: (1) the evaluation of cycle-growth bond is inconclusive, (2) empirical testing of cycle synchronization is exaggerated and (3) the hypothesis of coupling/decoupling is ambiguous and can be misleading. Economic growth is a complex process and cannot be attributed to a single factor of observance hence this essay is just a tool of theoretical reasoning with firm grip on empirical circumstances that lead us to consider some issues that dwell the “growth economists” these days. Our study suggests a conclusion that discussions on the cycle-growth nexus are far from over, revealing us some remarkable confrontations within empirical domain.

scholarly journals Plant-Level Irreversible Investment and Equilibrium Business Cycles

2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo L Veracierto
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Real Business Cycle ◽  
Aggregate Fluctuations ◽  
Cycle Model ◽  
Irreversible Investment ◽  
Business Cycle Model ◽  
Plant Level ◽  
Aggregate Dynamics ◽  
Real Business Cycle Model

This paper evaluates the importance of microeconomic irreversibilities for aggregate dynamics using a real-business-cycle (RBC) model characterized by investment irreversibilities at the establishment level. The main finding is that investment irreversibilities do not play a significant role in an otherwise standard real-business-cycle model: Even though investment irreversibilities are crucial for establishment-level dynamics, aggregate fluctuations are basically the same under fully flexible or completely irreversible investment.

scholarly journals IDENTIFYING NEWS SHOCKS WITH FORECAST DATA

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuo Hirose ◽  
Takushi Kurozumi
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Equilibrium Model ◽  
Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium ◽  
Output Growth ◽  
News Shocks ◽  
Business Cycle Fluctuations ◽  
Forecast Data ◽  
Dynamic Stochastic

The empirical importance of news shocks—anticipated future shocks—in business cycle fluctuations has been explored by using only actual data when estimating models augmented with news shocks. This paper additionally exploits forecast data to identify news shocks in a canonical dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. The estimated model shows new empirical evidence that technology news shocks are a major source of fluctuations in US output growth. Exploiting the forecast data not only generates more precise estimates of news shocks and other parameters in the model, but also increases the contribution of technology news shocks to the fluctuations.

scholarly journals Stock Prices, News, and Economic Fluctuations

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1293-1307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Beaudry ◽  
Franck Portier
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Stock Prices ◽  
Business Cycle Fluctuations ◽  
Monetary Shock ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Technology Shock ◽  
Technological Opportunities ◽  
Joint Behavior

We show that the joint behavior of stock prices and TFP favors a view of business cycles driven largely by a shock that does not affect productivity in the short run – and therefore does not look like a standard technology shock – but affects productivity with substantial delay – and therefore does not look like a monetary shock. One structural interpretation for this shock is that it represents news about future technological opportunities which is first captured in stock prices. This shock causes a boom in consumption, investment, and hours worked that precedes productivity growth by a few years, and explains about 50 percent of business cycle fluctuations.

scholarly journals Technology, Employment, and the Business Cycle: Do Technology Shocks Explain Aggregate Fluctuations?

1999 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Galí
Keyword(s):  
Simple Model ◽  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Monopolistic Competition ◽  
Real Business Cycle ◽  
Technology Shocks ◽  
Aggregate Fluctuations ◽  
G7 Countries ◽  
Technology Shock ◽  
The Business Cycle

I estimate a decomposition of productivity and hours into technology and non-technology components. Two results stand out: (a) the estimated conditional correlations of hours and productivity are negative for technology shocks, positive for nontechnology shocks; (b) hours show a persistent decline in response to a positive technology shock. Most of the results hold for a variety of model specifications, and for the majority of G7 countries. The picture that emerges is hard to reconcile with a conventional real-business-cycle interpretation of business cycles, but is shown to be consistent with a simple model with monopolistic competition and sticky prices. (JEL E32, E24)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document