Open Access
Inequality foundations of concentration measures: an application to the Hannah-Kay indices
(1999) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Salas, Rafael; Economía; Ekonomia
In this paper we provide a connection between concentration and inequality by showing that the inequality measures consistent with the whole class of Hannah-Kay concentration indices are the general entropy inequality indices. We isolate the inequality component underlying the concentration measures, obtaining an explicit additive decomposition of the change in concentration into the change in its two components: inequality and the number of firms. This relationship proves to be valid for the whole class of Hannah-Kay concentration indices, and embodies as particular cases other previously found in the literature. Finally, our proposed decomposition is shown by means of an empirical example, which illustrates the sources of a change in sectoral concentration between two points in time.
Open Access
An industry analysis of foreign direct investment in Spanish manufacturing, 1986-1992
(1998) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; López Pueyo, Carmen; Economía; Ekonomia
This paper tries to analyse the main features associated with foreign direct investment (FDI) directed to Spanish manufacturing, both across industries and through time. To this end, we will make use of a data set on 20 manufacturing industries for the years 1986-1992, in which Spanish manufacturing industry experienced a sustained period of growth. Then, a relative FDI measure will be related to several industry indicators, as well as to some macroeconomic variables, which will allow us to obtain a general characterization of FDI in Spanish manufacturing over that period.
Open Access
Monetary and fiscal policies in dynamic models of the open economy
(1998) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Economía; Ekonomia
This paper discusses the relative effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policies in a series of dynamic models of the open economy, by embodying in a unified general framework some different assumptions previously stated in the literature. In addition to the final steady-state results, we also examine those effects arising both on impact of policy measures, and on announcement when such policies are perfectly anticipated by the agents.
Open Access
Austerity and asymmetries in the fiscal policies of the Eurozone: the case of Southern Europe
(Springer, 2025-04-23) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Gómez Gómez-Plana, Antonio; Economía; Ekonomia; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
In this paper, we analyse the effects of several austerity policies implemented by the Southern European countries, i.e., Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain on the economies of the European Union and the rest of the world. In particular, we simulate the reduction in one point in the government deficit-to-GDP ratio in each of these countries, through several alternative policies, both from the spending side and the revenue side. The empirical methodology is based on a computable general equilibrium model, which incorporates the backward sectoral linkages and inter-country flows generated by fiscal consolidations. Our results show that these austerity policies were generally more painful, in terms of a fall in the levels of activity and a worsening in income distribution for labour, in the scenarios of tax increases rather than in those based on spending cuts. The effects on the rest of the European Union and the rest of the world were however mostly negligible.
Open Access
There was monetary autonomy in Europe on the eve of EMU? The German dominance hypothesis reexamined
(1999) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Montávez Garcés, María Dolores; Economía; Ekonomia
In this paper we re-examine the German dominance hypothesis, as a way to assess whether the loss of monetary autonomy in Europe associated with EMU had been significant. We use Granger-causality tests between the interest rates of Germany and all the countries participating at any time in the European Monetary System, with the sample period running until December 1998. Our results would support a weak version of the hypothesis, with Germany playing a certain “leadership” or special role in the EMS, although she would not had been strictly the “dominant” player.
Open Access
Foreign direct investment and trade: a causality analysis
(1999) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Montero Muñoz, María; Economía; Ekonomia
We analyse in this paper the relationship between outward FDI and exports, with Spanish quarterly data for the period 1977-1992. The empirical methodology makes use of Granger-causality tests in a cointegration framework, where the order of lags for each variable has been selected by means of Hsiao’s sequential approach. The tests have been performed both in a bivariate and multivariate setting, in the latter case including as additional variables a proxy for world income and the relative price of exports. Since cointegration between outward FDI and exports was found, error-correction mechanisms under three alternative specifications were included, which allowed us to discriminate between short- and long-run Granger-causality. Our results point to the existence of long-run Granger-causality from outward FDI to exports, according to a complementary relationship, for the Spanish case during the period of analysis.
Open Access
A further generalization of the Solow growth model: the role of the public sector
(1999) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Economía; Ekonomia
We develop in this paper an augmented version of the Solow (1956) growth model, including the role of government. The model leads to a non-monotonic relationship between the rate of growth of per capita output and government size, generalizing previous results by Barro (1990) to the case in which returns to scale to private factors are not constant.
Open Access
On the insurance function of fiscal policy in a monetary union
(2000) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Díaz Roldán, Carmen; Economía; Ekonomia
In this paper we first review the available literature on the degree of insurance against shocks, provided by the central budget in the federal systems already existing. Next, we discuss the main points raised on the debate about the implementation of an automatic mechanism designed to cope with country-specific shocks in a monetary union, and present a specific proposal of such a mechanism.
Open Access
A general framework for the macroeconomic analysis of monetary unions
(2001) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Díaz Roldán, Carmen; Economía; Ekonomia
The objective of this paper is to develop a general framework for the macroeconomic modelling of monetary unions, which could be useful for policy analysis, as well as for teaching purposes. Our starting point will be the standard two-country Mundell-Fleming model with perfect capital mobility, extended to incorporate the supply side, and modified so that the money market is common for two countries forming a monetary union. The model is presented in two versions: for a small and a big monetary union, respectively. After solving each model, we will derive multipliers for monetary, real (i. e., demand-side), supply, and external shocks, paying a special attention to the distinction between symmetric and asymmetric shocks. A graphical analysis is also provided.
Open Access
¿Existe un efecto Fisher en el largo plazo? Evidencia para la economía española, 1962-1996
(1998) Bajo Rubio, Óscar; Esteve, Vicente; Economía; Ekonomia
En este trabajo se contrasta empíricamente el cumplimiento del efecto Fisher a largo plazo para el caso español, utilizando datos trimestrales para el periodo 1962-1996. Para ello se utilizan nuevas técnicas de raíces unitarias y cointegración, donde se tienen en cuenta explícitamente la presencia de posibles cambios estructurales en la tendencia de las series. Los resultados son favorables a la existencia de un efecto Fisher parcial en el largo plazo, con una transición al tipo de interés nominal de aproximadamente un tercio por cada punto de incremento en la tasa de inflacción.