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How important are consumer confidence shocks for the propagation of business cycles in Bulgaria?

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  • Vasilev, Aleksandar

Abstract

This paper takes an otherwise standard real-business-cycle setup with government sector, and augments it with shocks to consumer confidence to study business cycle fluctuations. A surprise increase in consumer confidence generates higher utility, as the household values consumption more in that scenario. As a test case, the model is calibrated to Bulgaria after the introduction of the currency board (1999-2018). We find that shocks to consumer confidence by themselves cannot be the main driving force behind business cycle fluctuations, but when combined with technology shocks, model performance improves substantially. Therefore, allowing for additional factors, such as consumer confidence, to interact with technology shocks can be useful in explaining business cycle movements.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2019. "How important are consumer confidence shocks for the propagation of business cycles in Bulgaria?," LEAF Working Paper Series 19-03, University of Lincoln, Lincoln International Business School, Lincoln Economics and Finance Research Group (LEAF).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:leafwp:1903
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2020. "A Real-business-cycle Model with a Stochastic Capital Share: Lessons for Bulgaria (1999–2018)," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 14(1), pages 107-121, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    consumer confidence shocks; business cycles; Bulgaria;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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