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The Natural Rate of Unemployment in Australia: Estimates From a Structural Var

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  • Nicolaas Groenewold
  • A J Hagger

Abstract

The concept of the natural rate of unemployment is widely used in the analysis and discussion of macroeconomic policy. It is, however, unobservable so that estimates of the natural rate are necessarily based on a particular theory of unemployment. Hence, measures of the natural rate, whether constant or time‐varying, are necessarily model‐dependent. Various series based on specific models have recently become available for Australia. We set out to compute a series for the natural rate based on a minimal theoretical structure captured by a two‐variable structural vector‐autoregressive (SVAR) model estimated using quarterly Australian data for the period 1978–1997. We assess the robustness of our estimates by varying both the theoretical restriction imposed on the model and the two variables included in the model. We find that the computed natural rate is quite sensitive to model specification, both in terms of the level and of the cyclical behaviour of the natural rate. We argue, however, that a particular variant of our model is strongly preferred to the others investigated. It produces an estimates natural rate series the behaviour of which is broadly consistent with that of series produced by others from more restrictive models.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolaas Groenewold & A J Hagger, 2000. "The Natural Rate of Unemployment in Australia: Estimates From a Structural Var," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 121-137, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecp:v:39:y:2000:i:2:p:121-137
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8454.00080
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    Cited by:

    1. Magnus Gustavsson & Pär Österholm, 2010. "The presence of unemployment hysteresis in the OECD: what can we learn from out-of-sample forecasts?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 779-792, June.
    2. A. J. Hagger & Nicolaas Groenewold, 2003. "Time to Ditch the Natural Rate?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 79(246), pages 324-335, September.
    3. Renée Fry & James Hocking & Vance L. Martin, 2008. "The Role of Portfolio Shocks in a Structural Vector Autoregressive Model of the Australian Economy," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 84(264), pages 17-33, March.
    4. Nicolaas Groenewold, 2001. "Long-Run Shifts of the Beveridge Curve and the Frictional Unemployment Rate in Australia," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 01-09, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    5. Marika Karanassou & Hector Sala, 2010. "Labour Market Dynamics in Australia: What Drives Unemployment?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(273), pages 185-209, June.
    6. Marika Karanassou & Hector Sala, 2010. "Labour Market Dynamics in Australia: What Drives Unemployment?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(273), pages 185-209, June.
    7. Mihaela Simionescu, 2014. "The Kalman Filter Approach for Estimating the Natural Unemployment Rate in Romania," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 10(1), pages 148-159, February.
    8. Nicolaas Groenewold & Sam Hak Kan Tang, 2001. "The Asian Financial Crisis and Natural Rate of Unemployment: Estimates from a Structural VAR for the Newly Industrializing Economies of Asia," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 01-12, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    9. Luis E. Arango & Luz A. Flórez, 2020. "Determinants of structural unemployment in Colombia: a search approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 2431-2464, May.
    10. Nicolaas Groenewold, 2003. "Long-Run Shifts of the Beveridge Curve and the Frictional Unemployment Rate in Australia," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 6(1), pages 65-82, March.

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