Open Access
Why are labor markets in Spain and Germany so different?
(2016) Casares Polo, Miguel; Vázquez, Jesús; Economía; Ekonomia
The volatility of unemployment fluctuations has been about 3 times higher in Spain than in Germany over the recent business cycles (1996-2013). In contrast, fluctuations of the rate of wage inflation were significantly more volatile in Germany than in Spain. We estimate a New-Keynesian model and find several explanatory factors: wage rigidity has been higher in Spain, the labor force has been more elastic in Germany than in Spain, large and persistent shocks augmenting the labor force have been estimated for Spain whereas in Germany there have been substantial shocks reducing the intensity of hours per worker, and the ECB’s policy design brought monetary shocks with much greater influence to the Spanish unemployment.
Open Access
A structural analysis of US entry and exit dynamics. Technical appendix
(2018) Casares Polo, Miguel; Khan, Hashmat; Poutineau, Jean-Christophe; Economía; Ekonomia
A. The optimizing programs of the model and other technical details (pages 1-7) B. Short-run and long-run equilibria in the DSGE model with endogenous entry and exit (pages 8-12) C. Average productivity (pages 13-15) D. Data and measurement equations (pages 16 and 17) E. The loglinearized equation for short-run fluctuations of critical productivity, zcr (pages 18 and 19) F. Aggregation (pages 20-24) G. The overall resources constraint (pages 25 and 26) H. Estimated shock decomposition for US data (pages 27-31) I. The sources of fluctuations in the Great Recession (pages 32-37)
Open Access
Entry and exit in recent US business cycles
(2015) Casares Polo, Miguel; Economía; Ekonomia
I show evidence indicating that the variability of the total number of business units (establishments) has significantly increased in recent US business cycles, accounting for nearly 2/3 of real GDP fluctuations during the 2003-2012 decade. Next, I examine the role of business creation and destruction in an estimated DSGE-style model extended with endogenous entry and exit. Shocks on both entry and, especially, exit have played a crucial role on explaining the latest boom-bust cycle in the US economy. I also find that the estimated innovations of total factor productivity are positive and high in 2010-2012, which might be the consequence of the dramatic increase in the exit rates observed during the recession of 2008-2009.
Open Access
Data revisions in the estimation of DSGE models
(2011) Casares Polo, Miguel; Vázquez, Jesús; Economía; Ekonomia
Revisions of US macroeconomic data are not white-noise. They are persistent, correlated with real-time data, and with high variability (around 80% of volatility observed in US real-time data). Their business cycle effects are examined in an estimated DSGE model that distinguishes real-time data from final data. Both the consumption habit formation and the price indexation to lagged inflation fall significantly in the estimation. The model also shows that revision shocks of both output and inflation are expansionary because they occur when real-time published data are too low and the Fed reacts by cutting interest rates. Consumption revisions, by contrast, are countercyclical as consumption habits mirror the observed reduction in real-time consumption. Finally, revisions of the three variables explain 9.3% of changes of output in its long-run variance decomposition.
Open Access
A structural analysis of US entry and exit dynamics
(2018) Casares Polo, Miguel; Khan, Hashmat; Poutineau, Jean-Christophe; Economía; Ekonomia
The authors report empirical evidence indicating that US business formation has recently turned more volatile, procyclical and persistent due to changes in exit dynamics. To study these stylized facts, we estimate a DSGE model with endogenous entry and exit. Business units feature heterogeneous productivity and they shut down if the present value of expected future dividends falls below the current liquidation value. The estimation results imply structural changes in US exit dynamics after 2007: the semi-elasticity of the exit rate to critical productivity has increased and the average plant-level productivity has decreased.
Open Access
The extensive margin and US aggregate fluctuations: a quantitative assessment
(Elsevier, 2020) Casares Polo, Miguel; Khan, Hashmat; Poutineau, Jean-Christophe; Ekonomia; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Economía
We report empirical evidence indicating that US net business formation has recently turned more volatile, procyclical and persistent. To study these stylized facts, we estimate a DSGE model with endogenous entry and exit. Business units feature heterogeneous productivity and they shut down if the present value of expected future dividends falls below the current liquidation value. The model provides a better fit than a constant exit rate model with the fluctuations of US business formation. The introduction of the extensive margin amplifies the effects of technology and risk-premium shocks, and reduces the procyclicality of firm-level production. The main sources of variability of the US aggregate fluctuations during the Great Recession are countercyclical technology shocks, persistent adverse risk-premium shocks, and expansionary monetary policy shocks.