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Monetary Policy and Swedish Unemployment Fluctuations

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  • Holmlund, Bertil
  • Alexius, Annika

Abstract

A widely spread belief among economists is that monetary policy has relatively short-lived effects on real variables such as unemployment. Previous studies indicate that monetary policy affects the output gap only at business cycle frequencies, but the effects on unemployment may well be more persistent in countries with highly regulated labor markets. We study the Swedish experience of unemployment and monetary policy. Using a structural VAR we find that around 30 percent of the fluctuations in unemployment are caused by shocks to monetary policy. The effects are also quite persistent. In the preferred model, almost 30 percent of the maximum effect of a shock still remains after ten years.

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  • Holmlund, Bertil & Alexius, Annika, 2008. "Monetary Policy and Swedish Unemployment Fluctuations," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 2, pages 1-25.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifweej:6989
    DOI: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2008-4
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    Cited by:

    1. M. Hakan Berument & Nukhet Dogan & Aysit Tansel, 2009. "Macroeconomic Policy and Unemployment by Economic Activity: Evidence from Turkey," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(3), pages 21-34, May.
    2. Alexander Mihailov & Giovanni Razzu & Zhe Wang, 2019. "Heterogeneous effects of single monetary policy on unemployment rates in the largest EMU economies," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2019-07, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    3. Sunde, Tafirenyika & Akanbi, Olusegun Ayodele, 2016. "The Dynamic Effects of Monetary Policy on Real Variables in Namibia," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 4(1), January.
    4. Boukraine, Wissem & Guerchi Mehri, Hella, 2022. "Should Tunisian Optimal Monetary Policy React to Wage Inflation? Evidence From A DSGE Model with Labor Market Frictions," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 75(1), pages 29-50.
    5. Ronald Schettkat & Rongrong Sun, 2009. "Monetary policy and European unemployment," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 94-108, Spring.
    6. Harris Maduku & Irrshad Kaseeram, 2018. "Inflation Targeting Monetary Policy and Unemployment in South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(4), pages 88-96.
    7. Wilhelmine Naapopye Shigwedha & Teresia Kaulihowa, 2020. "Investigating the Effects of Government Expenditure and Money Supply on Unemployment in Namibia," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 12(4), pages 73-83.
    8. Ohlsson, Henry, 2007. "The legacy of the Swedish gift and inheritance tax, 1884–2004," Working Paper Series 2007:23, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    9. Rahn, Daniela & Weber, Enzo, 2019. "Patterns Of Unemployment Dynamics In Germany," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 322-357, January.
    10. Andrea Vaona, 2015. "Anomalous empirical evidence on money long-run super-neutrality and the vertical long-run Phillips curve," Working Papers 17/2015, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    11. Tafirenyika SUNDE, 2015. "The effects of monetary policy on unemployment in Namibia," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 2(4), pages 256-274, December.
    12. Ronald Schettkat & Rongrong Sun, 2009. "Nicht zu früh bremsen! - Der Einfluss der Geldpolitik auf die langfristige Wirtschaftsentwicklung in Deutschland und den USA-," Schumpeter Discussion Papers sdp09003, Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal, University Library.
    13. Islas-Camargo, Alejandro & Cortez, Willy W., 2011. "How relevant is monetary policy to explain Mexican unemployment fluctuations?," MPRA Paper 30027, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. David Umoru & Moses A. Erhi, 2017. "St. Louis Model for Macroeconomic Policy Determination in Relation to Employment Generation in a Developing Economy: Some Simulation Results," Academic Journal of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance, Banking and Accountancy Bucharest,"Dimitrie Cantemir" Christian University Bucharest, vol. 3(3), pages 24-32, September.
    15. repec:ksp:journ3:v:1:y:2015:i:4:p:256-274 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Yang, Zan & Wang, Songtao & Campbell, Robert, 2010. "Monetary policy and regional price boom in Sweden," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 865-879, November.
    17. Creel, Jérôme & Hubert, Paul, 2012. "Constrained discretion in Sweden," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 33-44.
    18. Zan Yang & Shuping Wu & Yanhao Shen, 2017. "Monetary Policy, House Prices, and Consumption in China: A National and Regional Study," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 20(1), pages 23-49.
    19. Augustine C Osigwe & Kenneth O Ahamba, 2016. "Macroeconomic conditions and unemployment in Nigeria," Journal of Economic and Financial Studies (JEFS), LAR Center Press, vol. 4(6), pages 21-28, December.
    20. Nordmeier, Daniela & Weber, Enzo, 2013. "Conditional Patterns of Unemployment Dynamics in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79958, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; monetary policy; structural VARs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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