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Countercyclical Fluctuations in Uncertainty are Endogenous

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Abstract

This paper uses a battery of calibrated and estimated structural models to determine the causal drivers of the negative correlation between output and aggregate uncertainty. We find the transmission of uncertainty shocks to output is weak, while aggregate uncertainty endogenously responds to first moment shocks in the presence of labor market search frictions. This indicates that countercyclical movements in aggregate uncertainty are endogenous responses to changes in output, rather than exogenous impulses. A vector autoregression on simulated data shows recursive identification techniques do not robustly identify structural uncertainty shocks.

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  • Joshua Bernstein & Michael D. Plante & Alexander W. Richter & Nathaniel A. Throckmorton, 2021. "Countercyclical Fluctuations in Uncertainty are Endogenous," Working Papers 2109, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:feddwp:92899
    DOI: 10.24149/wp2109
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Uncertainty Shocks; Endogenous Uncertainty; Variance Decomposition; Nonlinear;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E37 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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