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Abstract
This study measures the effectiveness of monetary transmission channels of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing (QQE) policy in affecting Japan's inflation rate. The monetary transmission channels are interest rate, portfolio rebalancing and foreign exchange rate channels. Based on data from 1 August 2013 to 31 October 2019, the Granger's Causality Test showed that the interest rate channel was vital in transmitting the effect of monetary easing. Specifically, the interest rate channel transmitted the effect of QQE, QQE with a negative interest rate and QQE with yield curve control policy to the domestic price level. Portfolio rebalancing and foreign exchange rate channels did not influence Japan's inflation rate in all the QQE policy periods. The empirical results are robust against different estimation methods. Based on the findings, the study offers some imperative policy recommendations.
Abstract
Economies, including the European Union, face the risk of losing ability to maintain their competitive positions on the global scale and of related inability to generate value added up to satisfactory degree. We therefore examine factors assumedly having positive impact on the domestic value added in exports, as a recently introduced key indicator of country's export competitiveness, reported in the TiVA database. The main aim of our paper is to test, for the selected countries, the relationships of the domestic value added in exports with the following factors: (1) number of patent applications per million inhabitants, (2) foreign direct investment per capita, (3) business expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP and (4) resource productivity as control variable. We prove by panel data analysis that the domestic value added in exports increases with an increase in all deployed independent variables as well as in control variable.
Abstract
Measurement of the performances of inflation targeting (IT) frameworks has been of interest to researchers ever since IT began to be implemented as a monetary policy strategy. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of domestic and international determinants on success in achieving inflation targets of the selected European economies. Our methodological framework is based on the application of a non-stationary discrete choice model. For this research, four European economies are considered: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Serbia. Their results regarding IT policy can provide a useful benchmark for similar economies that are either planning to adopt the same monetary policy framework or have begun to apply it recently. Our findings indicate that IT success is primarily under the control of monetary policymakers by key policy rate mechanism, but that the impact of additional domestic and international factors that are not easily managed by the central bank like budget balance, exchange rate, growth rate, current account balance, labor cost growth, loans, Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, inflation, and GDP gap of the Eurozone, can be also significant. Consequently, monetary policymakers need to take into account a wide range of inflation factors, including foreign spillover effects, so that tools for their neutralization can be helpful in achieving the targeted goals.
Abstract
Synthesizing multidimensional phenomena such as well-being in the form of composite indicators has been gaining popularity in recent years. The Mazziotta-Pareto Index is one of the methods of constructing non-compensatory composite indices. The paper proposes a modification of this method, which (unlike the original) enables periodical measurements and can be used to compare countries in research on East European transition. The essence of this modification is the use of anti-pattern normalization, during which only current data is used, and yet after normalization, the indicators are in a certain way comparable over time. The Anti-Pattern Normalized Mazziotta-Pareto Index (APMPI), unlike the original, does not change the previously determined values after the inclusion of new data. Both the imperfection of the original approach and the new proposal are illustrated by an empirical example. Indices of well-being for the OECD countries are constructed. The example shows that although AMPI and APMPI values are not comparable, the rankings based on them are not very different.
Abstract
A set of simple and complex indicators is used to measure the economic condition of economies, and the analysis can be conducted in a static or dynamic approach. This article proposes the author's macroeconomic condition index (MCI), which is based on the popular misery index, supplementing the unemployment and inflation rates with two variables: GDP growth rate and budget deficit. The aim of the study is to assess the macroeconomic situation of Poland against the average for the EU, using the above-mentioned measure. The time scope of the study covers the years 2011–2020, with particular emphasis on the effects of the first year of the Covid crisis. The results indicate that throughout the period the economic situation in Poland in terms of the four variables combined was relatively favourable, although less stable. A sharp downturn occurred in 2020, both domestically and on average in the EU. The main determinants of the worse condition were a decline in the GDP growth rate and an increase in the budget deficit, with relatively steady unemployment and inflation.
Abstract
The main goal of this paper is to analyse the impact of pension funds on capital market development in 11 new EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe using annual data for the period between 2000 and 2019. Given the geographical, institutional, political and economic differences across these countries, we split them into three homogenous groups: Balkan, Baltic and Visegrad countries. We use three different variables as a proxy for capital markets growth: stock market capitalization, the value of stock traded, and private bond market capitalization. We apply dynamic and fully-modified ordinary least squares to examine the relationship between the variables. The empirical results indicate that pension funds have a positive effect on the bond markets growth in all sub-groups but they do not impact the stock market growth in the Balkan and Baltic countries.
Abstract
It has been known for decades that in a given year and in a given country, with the rise in lifetime income, life expectancy also rises. The difference between the richest and the poorest stratas' life expectancies is called the longevity gap. Recently, as the gap has generally been growing, it has received more and more attention. The issue is important in itself, but it has also an obvious impact on redistribution in the pension system: the greater the longevity gap, the greater is the redistribution from the low benefit pensioners to the high benefit ones in a given pension system. Econometrically estimating the life expectancy-income function may help the analysis. In our short study, first we give a simple estimation, and then we show the influence of the estimate on the redistribution.
Abstract
The relationship between economic growth and transport sector is an important and popular topic for researchers, but it also has several untapped areas. To ensure continuous economic growth, it is necessary to answer how and to what extent economic sectors contribute to sustainability; what factors or sets of factors can determine freight performance in a country or region; and how it affects the global economy. This study aims to test the presence of spatial dependence. In this research, the authors looked for the spatial relationships between economic activity (GDP) and freight transport performance using spatial econometric models. The results showed that the spatial impact of freight transport performance and GDP significantly influence each other. The intensity calculation shows that the Baltic States have a high intensity in road freight transport, followed by the Central European region. Eastern Europe, including Russia and the Baltics, are prominent players in rail freight. Furthermore, the spatial econometric models have highlighted that a country with high GDP has some sort of "suction" effect on neighbouring countries with lower GDP along with the freight performance. This is especially true for rail freight. In the long run, the outlined results may even support strategic decision-makers in managing the economic impacts of both road and rail freight transport at the regional level.
Abstract
This paper examines the geographical distribution of regional state aid in Slovakia between 2004 and 2021, while focusing on projects realized in the least developed districts. The purpose is to answer the following research question: how much investment support is provided to areas with high rates of long-term unemployment to promote local economic activity? The investigation was conducted using a spatial distribution analysis and descriptive statistical methods. The findings demonstrate that the level of support in less developed districts is below the level of aid directed into more developed regions not only in terms of the number of supported projects, but also regarding the total amount of aid and the number of created jobs. Out of the 20 least developed districts we monitored, only the results for Košice-okolie significantly outperformed the results of the other districts. This article provides possible explanations for these findings and contributes to the literature by providing insights into the practical application of state aid in Slovakia.
Abstract
While decarbonization and hydrogen energy are at the top of European policymakers' agenda, research and innovation (R&I) management of energy companies must focus on clean technologies (cleantech) which could decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the sector. The Central European energy sector, however, might face a decarbonization challenge because of the specific geopolitical situation, so aligning R&I directions with regional policy and conditions seem to be crucial to accelerate sectoral and corporate adaptation. This study focuses on the decarbonization progress and strategies of the Visegrád 4 (V4) countries, concerning some of the most promising hydrogen-driven cleantech R&I directions which might induce strategic changes in Central European energy companies. Besides promoting renewable energy sources, results show that V4 strategies usually include the development of nuclear energy capacities to reduce GHG emissions and using the extended natural gas infrastructure for renewable energy storage. The analysed cleantech innovations are included but usually not central in these strategies. Strategic changes in energy companies, however, could be driven by these promising R&I directions, e.g., the hydrogen economy development by power-to-X (P2X) technologies, industrial decarbonization by carbon capture, utilization or storage (CCUS) technologies in the mid-term, and cross-sectoral integration and optimization by smart energy system (SES) development in the long-term.
