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Debt and Stabilization Policy: Evidence from a Euro Area FAVAR

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  • Laura E. Jackson
  • Michael T. Owyang
  • Sarah Zubairy

Abstract

The Euro-area poses a unique problem in evaluating policy: a currency union with a shared monetary policy and country-specific fiscal policy. Analysis can be further complicated if high levels of public debt affect the performance of stabilization policy. We construct a framework capable of handling these issues with an application to Euro-Area data. In order to incorporate multiple macroeconomic series from each country but, simultaneously, treat country-specific fiscal policy, we develop a hierarchical factor-augmented VAR with zero restrictions on the loadings that yield country-level factors. Monetary policy, then, responds to area-wide conditions but fiscal policy responds only to its country level conditions. We find that there is broad quantitative variation in different countries'' responses to area-wide monetary policy and both qualitative and quantitative variation in responses to country-specific fiscal policy. Moreover, we find that debt conditions do not diminish the effectiveness of policy in a significant manner, suggesting that any negative effects must come through other channels.

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  • Laura E. Jackson & Michael T. Owyang & Sarah Zubairy, 2017. "Debt and Stabilization Policy: Evidence from a Euro Area FAVAR," Working Papers 2017-22, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2017-022
    DOI: 10.20955/wp.2017.022
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    1. Senekovič Marko & Kavkler Alenka & Bekő Jani, 2019. "Estimation of Government Spending Multiplier in EU Economies," Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, Sciendo, vol. 65(1), pages 16-29, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Government spending; monetary policy; European Monetary Union; debt;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory

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