IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/portec/v23y2024i1d10.1007_s10258-022-00233-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of economic policy uncertainty under fractional integration

Author

Listed:
  • Carlos D. Ramirez

    (George Mason University)

Abstract

One of the most popular measures of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) is an index based on newspapers coverage of particular keywords. The constructed index is often then included in vector autoregression (VAR) models to examine the extent to which EPU affects economic activity. Researchers, however, have not investigated how the possibility of fractional integration in this index may affect the results. Under fractional integration, the effects of EPU on output in a standard VAR setting may be biased. After confirming that all EPU series posted in policyuncertainty.com are fractionally integrated processes, I estimate a fractionally cointegrated VAR (FCVAR) model to evaluate the dynamic effects of EPU. Likelihood ratio tests indicate that fractional cointegration cannot be rejected at low lag orders. In addition, I investigate the effect of EPU on output after applying various filters to remove the long-memory component. While I still find that EPU imparts a negative effect on output, relative to Baker et al. (2016)’s results, the effects tend to be smaller in magnitude. Treating long memory, therefore, is important for accurate estimation of the dynamic effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos D. Ramirez, 2024. "The effect of economic policy uncertainty under fractional integration," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 23(1), pages 89-110, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:portec:v:23:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10258-022-00233-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10258-022-00233-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10258-022-00233-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10258-022-00233-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Søren Johansen & Morten Ørregaard Nielsen, 2012. "Likelihood Inference for a Fractionally Cointegrated Vector Autoregressive Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(6), pages 2667-2732, November.
    2. Maggie E. C. Jones & Morten Ørregaard Nielsen & Michał Ksawery Popiel, 2014. "A fractionally cointegrated VAR analysis of economic voting and political support," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(4), pages 1078-1130, November.
    3. Søren Johansen & Morten Ørregaard Nielsen, 2018. "Testing the CVAR in the Fractional CVAR Model," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 836-849, November.
    4. Nicholas Bloom & Max Floetotto & Nir Jaimovich & Itay Saporta†Eksten & Stephen J. Terry, 2018. "Really Uncertain Business Cycles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 86(3), pages 1031-1065, May.
    5. James Davidson, 2005. "Testing for Fractional Cointegration: The Relationship between Government Popularity and Economic Performance in the UK," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Catherine Kyrtsou (ed.), New Trends in Macroeconomics, pages 147-171, Springer.
    6. Caggiano, Giovanni & Castelnuovo, Efrem & Groshenny, Nicolas, 2014. "Uncertainty shocks and unemployment dynamics in U.S. recessions," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 78-92.
    7. Johansen, Søren & Nielsen, Morten Ørregaard, 2010. "Likelihood inference for a nonstationary fractional autoregressive model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 158(1), pages 51-66, September.
    8. Sepideh Dolatabadi & Morten Ørregaard Nielsen & Ke Xu, 2015. "A Fractionally Cointegrated VAR Analysis of Price Discovery in Commodity Futures Markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(4), pages 339-356, April.
    9. Clarke, Harold D. & Lebo, Matthew, 2003. "Fractional (Co)integration and Governing Party Support in Britain," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(2), pages 283-301, April.
    10. Peter C. B. Phillips & Zhentao Shi, 2021. "Boosting: Why You Can Use The Hp Filter," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(2), pages 521-570, May.
    11. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    12. Juan J. Dolado & Francesc Marmol, 2004. "Asymptotic inference results for multivariate long-memory processes," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 7(1), pages 168-190, June.
    13. Morten O. Ravn & Harald Uhlig, 2002. "On adjusting the Hodrick-Prescott filter for the frequency of observations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 371-375.
    14. Peter C. B. Phillips & Sainan Jin, 2021. "Business Cycles, Trend Elimination, And The Hp Filter," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(2), pages 469-520, May.
    15. Wen‐Jen Tsay, 2007. "Using Difference‐Based Methods for Inference in Regression with Fractionally Integrated Processes," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 827-843, November.
    16. Fabienne Comte & Eric Renault, 1998. "Long memory in continuous‐time stochastic volatility models," Mathematical Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(4), pages 291-323, October.
    17. Kyle Jurado & Sydney C. Ludvigson & Serena Ng, 2015. "Measuring Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(3), pages 1177-1216, March.
    18. Baillie, Richard T., 1996. "Long memory processes and fractional integration in econometrics," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 5-59, July.
    19. Johansen, SØren, 2008. "A Representation Theory For A Class Of Vector Autoregressive Models For Fractional Processes," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 651-676, June.
    20. Jae Sim & Egon Zakrajsek & Simon Gilchrist, 2010. "Uncertainty, Financial Frictions, and Investment Dynamics," 2010 Meeting Papers 1285, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    21. Lo, Andrew W, 1991. "Long-Term Memory in Stock Market Prices," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(5), pages 1279-1313, September.
    22. John Geweke & Susan Porter‐Hudak, 1983. "The Estimation And Application Of Long Memory Time Series Models," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(4), pages 221-238, July.
    23. Caggiano, Giovanni & Castelnuovo, Efrem & Figueres, Juan Manuel, 2017. "Economic policy uncertainty and unemployment in the United States: A nonlinear approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 31-34.
    24. Nicholas Bloom, 2009. "The Impact of Uncertainty Shocks," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 623-685, May.
    25. Uwe Hassler & Mehdi Hosseinkouchack, 2020. "Harmonically Weighted Processes," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 41-66, January.
    26. Tsay, Wen-Jen & Chung, Ching-Fan, 2000. "The spurious regression of fractionally integrated processes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 155-182, May.
    27. Johansen, Soren, 1995. "Likelihood-Based Inference in Cointegrated Vector Autoregressive Models," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198774501.
    28. Sims, Christopher A & Stock, James H & Watson, Mark W, 1990. "Inference in Linear Time Series Models with Some Unit Roots," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 113-144, January.
    29. Uwe Hassler, 1993. "Regression Of Spectral Estimators With Fractionally Integrated Time Series," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(4), pages 369-380, July.
    30. Benoit B. Mandelbrot, 1972. "Statistical Methodology for Nonperiodic Cycles: From the Covariance To R/S Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 1, number 3, pages 259-290, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. C. W. J. Granger & Roselyne Joyeux, 1980. "An Introduction To Long‐Memory Time Series Models And Fractional Differencing," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 15-29, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Javier Hualde & Morten {O}rregaard Nielsen, 2022. "Fractional integration and cointegration," Papers 2211.10235, arXiv.org.
    2. Alexander Boca Saravia & Gabriel Rodríguez, 2022. "Presidential approval in Peru: an empirical analysis using a fractionally cointegrated VAR," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 1973-2010, August.
    3. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Luis A. Gil-Alana, 2020. "Modelling Loans to Non-Financial Corporations within the Eurozone: A Long-Memory Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 8674, CESifo.
    4. Alia Afzal & Philipp Sibbertsen, 2021. "Modeling fractional cointegration between high and low stock prices in Asian countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 661-682, February.
    5. Maggie E. C. Jones & Morten Ørregaard Nielsen & Michał Ksawery Popiel, 2014. "A fractionally cointegrated VAR analysis of economic voting and political support," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(4), pages 1078-1130, November.
    6. Dibiasi, Andreas & Sarferaz, Samad, 2023. "Measuring macroeconomic uncertainty: A cross-country analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Nikolaos Stoupos & Apostolos Kiohos, 2022. "Euro Area: Towards a European Common Bond? – Empirical Evidence from the Sovereign Debt Markets," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 1019-1046, July.
    8. Giovanni Pellegrino, 2021. "Uncertainty and monetary policy in the US: A journey into nonlinear territory," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(3), pages 1106-1128, July.
    9. Gil-Alana, Luis A. & Carcel, Hector, 2020. "A fractional cointegration var analysis of exchange rate dynamics," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    10. Monge, Manuel & Poza, Carlos & Borgia, Sofía, 2022. "A proposal of a suspicion of tax fraud indicator based on Google trends to foresee Spanish tax revenues," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1-12.
    11. Al-Thaqeb, Saud Asaad & Algharabali, Barrak Ghanim, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty: A literature review," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    12. Josué Diwambuena & Jean-Paul K. Tsasa, 2021. "The Real Effects of Uncertainty Shocks: New Evidence from Linear and Nonlinear SVAR Models," BEMPS - Bozen Economics & Management Paper Series BEMPS87, Faculty of Economics and Management at the Free University of Bozen.
    13. Abakah, Emmanuel Joel Aikins & Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Gil-Alana, Luis Alberiko, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty: Persistence and cross-country linkages," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    14. Arigoni, Filippo & Lenarčič, Črt, 2020. "The impact of trade policy uncertainty shocks on the Euro Area," MPRA Paper 100832, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Magnus Reif, 2020. "Macroeconomics, Nonlinearities, and the Business Cycle," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 87.
    16. Samet Gunay, 2018. "Fractionally Cointegrated Vector Autoregression Model: Evaluation of High/Low and Close/Open Spreads for Precious Metals," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(4), pages 21582440188, November.
    17. Ahmed Ali & Granberg Mark & Uddin Gazi Salah & Troster Victor, 2022. "Asymmetric dynamics between uncertainty and unemployment flows in the United States," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 26(1), pages 155-172, February.
    18. Gabriel P. Mathy, 2020. "How much did uncertainty shocks matter in the Great Depression?," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 14(2), pages 283-323, May.
    19. Tosapol Apaitan & Pongsak Luangaram & Pym Manopimoke, 2022. "Uncertainty in an emerging market economy: evidence from Thailand," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 933-989, March.
    20. Federico Carlini & Paolo Santucci de Magistris, 2019. "Resuscitating the co-fractional model of Granger (1986)," Discussion Papers 19/01, University of Nottingham, Granger Centre for Time Series Econometrics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:portec:v:23:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10258-022-00233-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.