898 research outputs found
Adaptive learning, persistence, and optimal monetary policy
No full textWe show that, when private sector expectations are determined in line with adaptive learning, optimal policy responds persistently to cost-push shocks. The optimal response is stronger and more persistent, the higher is the initial level of perceived inflation persistence by the private sector. Such a sophisticated policy reduces inflation persistence and inflation volatility at little cost in terms of output gap volatility. Persistent responses to cost-push shocks and stability of inflation expectations resemble optimal policy under commitment and rational expectations. Nevertheless, it is clear that the mechanism at play is very different. In the case of commitment it relies on expectations of future policy actions affecting inflation expectations; in the case of sophisticated central banking it relies on the reduction in the estimated inflation persistence parameter based on inflation data generated by shocks and policy responses. JEL Classification: E52Adaptive learning, optimal policy, policy rules, Rational Expectations
Minority candidates for Westminster continue to suffer electorally from ethnic and religious prejudice
No full textIncumbent political representatives benefit from the presence of British, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) challengers in their constituency, according to a worrying new study into the role that the race and ethnicity of candidates played in the 2010 British General Election. Summarising the research, Mary Stegmaier, Michael Lewis-Beck and Kaat Smets show that the incumbent party in a constituency typically gained at least two percentage points in vote share when they had a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic challenger
New evidence on inflation persistence and price stickiness in the Euro area: Implications for macro modelling
No full textThis paper evaluates new evidence on price setting practices and inflation persistence in the euro area with respect to its implications for macro modelling. It argues that several of the most commonly used assumptions in micro-founded macro models are seriously challenged by the new findings.Price setting practices, macro modellling
Unemployment in an Estimated New Keynesian Model
No full textWe reformulate the Smets-Wouters (2007) framework by embedding the theory of unemployment proposed in Galí (2011a,b). We estimate the resulting model using postwar U.S. data, while treating the unemployment rate as an additional observable variable. Our approach overcomes the lack of identification of wage markup and labor supply shocks highlighted by Chari, Kehoe and McGrattan (2008) in their criticism of New Keynesian models, and allows us to estimate a "correct" measure of the output gap. In addition, the estimated model can be used to analyze the sources of unemployment fluctuations.nominal rigidities, unemployment fluctuations, Phillips curve, wage markups shocks, output gap.
Responsible leadership development: gender, diversity and the route to the top
No full textIn Chapter 18, Dr Mahima Mitra, Dr Andromachi Athanasopoulou, Professor Sue Dopson and Professor Michael Smets address the need to create a more representative group of leaders. They accordingly focus on areas like gender and ethnicity in charting a route to the top. In this respect, they examine institutional and individual barriers to a more diverse and responsible leadership. They consider how existing evidence suggests that these can be overcome in generating a series of principles for future responsible leadership development. As such, they deepen our understanding of inclusivity in exercising responsible leadership in fulfillment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Inflation persistence in Central and Eastern European countries
No full textThis article studies inflation persistence with time-varying coefficient autoregressions for
twelve central European countries, in comparison with the United States and the euro area.
Inflation persistence tends to be higher in times of high inflation. Since the oil price shocks,
inflation persistence has declined both in the US and the euro-area. In most central and
eastern European countries, for which our study covers 1993-2012, inflation persistence has
also declined, with the main exceptions of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, where
persistence seems to be rather stable. These findings have implications for the conduct of
monetary policy and for a possible membership in the euro area. We also conclude that the
OLS estimate of an autoregression is likely upward biased relative to the time-average of
time-varying parameters, when the parameters change
Comparing performance and situation awareness in USAR unit tasks in a virtual and real environment
No full textA convenient way to test Urban Search And Rescue (USAR) robots would be in virtual environments (VEs). Evaluations in VEs are generally accepted as alternative for real scenarios. There are obvious differences between operation in a real and virtual environment. Nonetheless, the current experiment showed no significant differences in situation awareness (SA) and performance during several elementary tasks (e.g. slalom) between a virtual world and a previous experiment in reality (Mioch, Smets, & Neerincx, 2012). Only small dependencies between the unit tasks were found. The effect of individual differences (like gender, km driven per year, and gaming experience), were significant for certain elementary tasks. Testing robots in virtual environments could still be useful even if differences between VE and reality exist, since comparisons of different conditions in VE seems to have the same results as the same comparison in the field (Bishop & Rohrmann, 2003; Van Diggelen, Looije, Mioch, Neerincx, & Smets, 2012).Intelligent SystemsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Farewell; Pamphlet marking the retirment of Prof. dr. Gerda J.F. Smets from the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology
No full textInflation persistence and price-setting behaviour in the euro area – a summary of the IPN evidence
No full textThis paper provides a summary of current knowledge on inflation persistence and price stickiness in the euro area, based on research findings that have been produced in the context of the Inflation Persistence Network. The main findings are - i) Under the current monetary policy regime, the estimated degree of inflation persistence in the euro area is moderate; ii) Retail prices in the euro area are more sticky than in the US; iii) There is significant sectoral heterogeneity in the degree of price stickiness; iv) Price decreases are not uncommon. The paper also investigates some of the policy implications of these findings. JEL Classification: E31, E42, E52.Price setting, inflation persistence, monetary policy, EMU.
Monetary policy transmission - the same for all? : comparing country and firm responses to Central Bank actions
No full textDefence date: 17 July 2000Examining Board: Prof. Michael Artis, EUI, Supervisor ; Prof. Stephen Cecchetti, Ohio State University ; Prof. Roger Farmer, EUI ; Prof. Frank Smets, European Central BankPDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 201
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