Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-12-18DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12182
Shantanu Ghosh, Tarak Nath Sahu
{"title":"Financial inclusion and economic status of the states of India: An empirical evidence","authors":"Shantanu Ghosh, Tarak Nath Sahu","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12182","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ecno.12182","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Financial inclusion, especially for a developing nation like India, plays a vital role in framing policies to ensure the development of the underprivileged. Applying the maximum–minimum technique for normalization and inverse of the Euclidean distance for consolidation, the present study attempts to construct an index of financial inclusion across all the states and union territories of India for 2003–2018. It further explores the effect of regional classifications and productivity on the achievement of financial inclusion. Analysis suggests Chandigarh be placed at the top in terms of mean financial inclusion scores for the study period. In addition, comparison among the regional classifications advocates for significant differences. Whereas the difference between the groups based on productivity remains nonsignificant. Theoretical propositions expect uniform achievement in financial inclusion among the states of a country. However, certain macroeconomic and other factors seem to reduce the esteemed equity.</p>","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"50 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/ecno.12182","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73689395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-12-11DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12181
Emanuele De Meo, Giacomo Tizzanini
{"title":"GDP-network CoVaR: A tool for assessing growth-at-risk","authors":"Emanuele De Meo, Giacomo Tizzanini","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12181","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ecno.12181","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We propose a tool to predict risks to economic growth and international business cycles spillovers: the gross domestic product (GDP)-Network conditional value at risk (CoVaR). Our methodology to assess Growth-at-Risk is composed of two building blocks. In the first step, we apply a machine learning methodology, namely the network-based NETS by Barigozzi and Brownlees, to identify significant linkages between pair of countries. In the second step, applying the CoVaR methodology by Adrian and Brunnermeier, and exploiting international statistics on trade flows and GDPs, we derive the entire distribution of Economic Growth spillover exposures at the bilateral, country and global level for different quantiles of tail events on economic growth. We find that Economic Growth Spillover probability distribution is time-varying, left-skewed and in some cases bi- or even multi-modal. Second, we prove that our two-step approach outperforms alternative one-step quantile regression models in predicting risks to economic growth. Finally, we show that Global exposure to economic growth tail events is decreasing over time.</p>","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"50 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/ecno.12181","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91166045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-11-24DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12180
Mahmoud Mohieldin, Ahmed Rostom, Chahir Zaki
{"title":"The external wealth of Arab nations: Structure, trends, and policy implications","authors":"Mahmoud Mohieldin, Ahmed Rostom, Chahir Zaki","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecno.12180","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The paper makes two contributions. First, it analyzes net foreign assets (NFA) and liabilities in selected Arab countries. Second, the paper examines the effects of policy variables that affect the accumulation of NFA and its components, analyzing how the existence of a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), the country's exchange rate regime, and the development of its financial system affect its NFA. The main findings show that the presence of a SWF is positively and significantly associated with foreign direct investment in Arab countries. While financial development matters, intermediate exchange rate regimes are associated to more uncertainty compared to fixed or flexible ones. Our results remain robust even we control for the endogeneity between SWF and NFA components.</p>","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"50 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/ecno.12180","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"137886783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-10-21DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12179
Nicholas Apergis, Tasawar Hayat, Tareq Saeed
{"title":"Cyclicality of commodity markets with respect to the U.S. economic policy uncertainty based on granger causality in quantiles","authors":"Nicholas Apergis, Tasawar Hayat, Tareq Saeed","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12179","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ecno.12179","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Given the importance of the U.S. in global commodity markets, the goal is to explore whether U.S. economic policy uncertainty impacts the price performance of certain commodities. The analysis uses the Granger causality in quantiles method that allows us to test whether there are different effects under different market conditions. The results document that economic uncertainty impacts the returns on the commodities considered, with the effects clustering around the tail of their conditional distribution. Robust evidence was obtained under alternative definitions of uncertainty.</p>","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/ecno.12179","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76253904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-10-06DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12177
Maddalena Galardo, Iconio Garrì, Paolo Emilio Mistrulli, Davide Revelli
{"title":"The geography of banking: Evidence from branch closings","authors":"Maddalena Galardo, Iconio Garrì, Paolo Emilio Mistrulli, Davide Revelli","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12177","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ecno.12177","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the number of bank branches declined in most developed countries. In this paper, we investigate how banks have downsized their branch networks in Italy, by comparing the pre- and post-crisis spatial distribution of branches. By using a detailed data set that includes a wide set of controls for the characteristics of each bank branch, we estimate the probability of a branch being closed as a function of its distance from both proprietary and competitors' branches. We find that banks are more prone to close branches in those areas where other proprietary branches are closer and where competitors' branches are closer. This indicates that, since the start of the crisis, banks have closed branches especially in those areas where their proprietary network was relatively more populated and the competition was fiercer.</p>","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/ecno.12177","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83100771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-09-24DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12178
Valerien O. Pede, Raymond J. G. M. Florax, Henri L. F. de Groot, Gustavo Barboza
{"title":"Technological leadership and sectorial employment growth: A spatial econometric analysis for U.S. counties","authors":"Valerien O. Pede, Raymond J. G. M. Florax, Henri L. F. de Groot, Gustavo Barboza","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12178","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ecno.12178","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper studies the determinants of technological catch-up considering spatial and sectoral aggregation of industries. We investigate how geographical and technological proximity to the technology leader impact regional employment growth. We model technological progress by means of a hierarchical process of catch-up to the technology leader. We also incorporate measures for knowledge spillover effects to test the roles of competition, specialisation, and diversity at the industry level. Empirical results using data at the county level for different economic sectors (2-dig NAICS) for the United States indicate that human capital plays a crucial role in promoting sectoral employment growth. The association between technological/geographical distance to the technology leader and employment growth varies across sectors.</p>","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/ecno.12178","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82165570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-09-12DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12206
Radeef Chundakkadan, R. Natarajan, Subash Sasidharan
{"title":"Small firms amidst COVID‐19: Financial constraints and role of government support","authors":"Radeef Chundakkadan, R. Natarajan, Subash Sasidharan","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecno.12206","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 has severely affected the financially constrained small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In response, various countries employed several policies to support SMEs. Using rich firm‐level data from 34 countries, we study the impact of the pandemic‐led crisis on cash‐strapped SMEs and the role of governments in offsetting losses. Our results suggest that (i) government support programmes target mostly financially constrained firms; (ii) firms adjustments to the pandemic are associated with the likelihood of government support; (iii) financially constrained firms are more likely to lay off workers; and (iv) financially constrained firms layoff more male employees than female employees.","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80694273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-08-31DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12176
David Knezevic, Martin Nordström, Pär Österholm
{"title":"The relation between municipal and government bond yields in an era of unconventional monetary policy","authors":"David Knezevic, Martin Nordström, Pär Österholm","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12176","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ecno.12176","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In this paper, we investigate how the 5-year Swedish municipal bond yield has been related to the corresponding yield on government bonds during the period that the Riksbank has conducted unconventional monetary policy in terms of bond purchases. Using daily Swedish data on bond yields from February 2015 to January 2018, we first conduct an event study to assess the short-run effects of the Riksbank's bond-purchase announcements. We then estimate bivariate vector autoregressive models to study the dynamic relationship between the yields. Results from the event study suggest that the accumulated short-run effect of the Riksbank's announcements was to lower the government bond yield by approximately 40 to 50 basis points and municipal bond yields by 30 to 35 basis points. Our vector autoregressive analysis indicates—in line with the event study—that an unexpected decrease in the government bond yield initially increases the municipal bond-yield spread. However, after approximately 4 weeks, the effect has been reversed and the municipal bond-yield spread is lower than it was initially. By conducting this analysis, we contribute to the understanding of the transmission of unconventional monetary policy.</p>","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/ecno.12176","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76537870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Economic NotesPub Date : 2020-08-07DOI: 10.1111/ecno.12175
Mehrab Kiarsi
{"title":"The rise of market power and Ramsey-optimal policy implications","authors":"Mehrab Kiarsi","doi":"10.1111/ecno.12175","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ecno.12175","url":null,"abstract":"<p>De Loecker, Eeckhout, and Unger document that since 1980 aggregate markups in the U.S. economy have significantly increased from 21% above cost to 61% now. In light of this evidence, this paper revisits optimal fiscal and monetary policy recommendations of standard New Keynesian models and shows that under empirically relevant calibrations of market power they radically change: the optimal inflation rate becomes significantly positive and its optimal volatility sharply rises. Moreover, inflation behaves like a random walk in response to unexpected fiscal shocks. Thus, price stability ceases to be the optimal policy outcome.</p>","PeriodicalId":44298,"journal":{"name":"Economic Notes","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/ecno.12175","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77518820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}