Research macroeconomists have witnessed remarkable methodological developments in mathematical, statistical, and computational tools during the last two decades. The three essays in this dissertation took advantage of these advances to analyze important macroeconomic issues. The first essay, “ Habit Formation, Adjustments Costs, and International Business Cycle Puzzles” analyzes the extent to which incorporating habit formation and adjustment costs in investment in a one-good two-country general equilibrium model would help overcome some of the international business cycle puzzles. Unlike standard results in the literature, the model generates persistent, cyclical adjustment paths in response to shocks. It also yields positive cross-country correlations in consumption, employment, investment, and output. Cross-country correlations in output are higher than the ones in consumption. This is qualitatively consistent with the stylized facts. These results are particularly striking given the predicted negative correlations in investment, employment, and output that are typically found in the literature. The second essay, “Comparison Utility, Endogenous Time Preference, and Economic Growth,” uses World War II as a natural experiment to analyze the degree to which a model where consumers' preferences exhibit comparison-based utility and endogenous discounting is able to improve upon existing models in mimicking the transitional dynamics of an economy after a shock that destroys part of its capital stock. The model outperforms existing ones in replicating the behavior of the saving rate (both on impact and along the transient paths) after this historical event. This result brings additional support to the endogenous rate of time preference being a crucial element in growth models. The last essay, “Monetary Policy under Fear of Floating: Modeling the Dominican Economy,” presents a small scale macroeconomic model for a country (Dominican Republic) characterized by a strong presence of fear of floating (reluctance to have a flexible exchange rate regime) in the conduct of monetary policy. The dynamic responses of this economy to external shocks that are of interest for monetary policy purposes are analyzed under two alternative interest rate policy rules: One being the standard Taylor rule and another that responds explicitly to deviations of the exchange rate with respect to its long-term trend.

The objective of the thesis was to study monetary policy frameworks in developing countries. The thesis focused on three aspects of the monetary framework; the degree of central bank independence, the monetary policy strategy and the exchange rate regime. The research applied quantitative empirical analysis and in-depth case studies on Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. The empirical research investigated three areas: 1) the phenomenon of ‘fear of floating’ and the correlation between exchange rate and macroeconomic volatility; 2) the degree of monetary policy independence in developing countries in the context of their increased integration into the global economic system; and 3) the degree of central bank independence and how it impacts both ‘fear of floating’ and monetary policy independence. The case studies allowed for an in-depth understanding of the process of setting monetary policy and the constraints under which it is formulated in developing countries. The results that emerged from the quantitative analysis highlight the impact of central bank independence in influencing the other aspects of the monetary framework, as it can mitigate fear of floating and contribute to increased monetary policy independence of world interest rates in developing countries. The case studies detailed the evolution of monetary frameworks in three countries with varying degrees of central bank independence. The degree of central bank independence increased in Egypt and Jordan as a result of severe currency crises in each country, while Lebanon provides a very different example of a developing country with an independent central bank since its inception. The conclusions that emerged from the cases suggest that central bank independence is critical in achieving exchange rate and price stability; however, developing countries should avoid focusing on exchange rate stability at the expense of other considerations for extended periods of time. In that, the results point to the benefits of proactively and pre-emptively managing the exchange rate regime. The cases also highlight the importance of the coordination between fiscal and monetary policies, as conditions of fiscal profligacy can undermine even the most independent central bank.

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The disclosure of information about the policy making process and the release of new databases may add relevant information about the exchange rate to guide the public's expectation, but may also mislead it. Asymmetric information also reinforces the importance of the learning process for policy makers and financial markets. This dissertation focuses on the role of information in the political economics of exchange rates. The two first chapters provide empirical studies of how access to information shapes and constraints the choice of exchange rate policy (official statement and implemented policy). The last chapter considers the question of whether international banks learn from their previous crisis experiences and reduce their lending to developing countries as a result of a financial crisis. It focuses on the experience accumulated with past financial crises. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’analyser l’effet de la globalisation sur la dynamique de l’inflation et sur la politique monétaire dans un monde de globalisation. Cette thèse porte 3 chapitres :Dans le premier chapitre, nous nous intéressons à l’impact de la globalisation financière sur le comportement du ciblage d’inflation dans les pays émergents, avec une attention particulière portée au taux de change : la Banque centrale répond-elle aux mouvements du taux de change ? Nous nous sommes basés sur des données trimestrielles de six pays émergents qui pratiquent la politique de ciblage d’inflation, depuis la date de l’adoption de cette dernière, jusqu’au dernier trimestre 2009 (2009 Q4). L’étude se base sur un modèle de petite économie ouverte néo-Keynésien à la Gali et Monacelli (2005). Nous utilisons un estimateur GMM à équations multiples pour analyser la relation. Les résultats nous montrent que la réponse de la Banque Centrale au taux de change est statistiquement significatif dans le cas du Brésil, du Chili, du Mexique et de la Thaïlande. En revanche, elle ne l’est pas pour la Corée ni pour la République Tchèque. Théoriquement, le résultat ne devrait pas être significatif même avec un ciblage d’inflation flexible où la banque centrale répond aux écarts d’inflation et de production.Nous pensons que les caractéristiques particulières des pays émergents, telles que la peur du flottement “fear of floating”, le manque de développement du système financier ainsi qu’un manque de crédibilité de la banque centrale, expliquent cette préoccupation des banque centrales pour les variations de change. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous étudions d’une façon empirique l’importance relative des canaux de transmission de la politique monétaire pour le Brésil, le Chili et la Corée. Cette partie se base sur des données mensuelles depuis l’adoption du ciblage d’inflation jusqu’à décembre 2009 (2009 M12). Nous utilisons un modèle SVAR, en incorporant les principaux canaux de transmission monétaire simultanément au lieu de les considérer séparément. Les résultats empiriques indiquent que le canal de taux de change ainsi que canal du prix des actifs ont une importance relativement plus élevée que le canal du taux d’intérêt traditionnel ou le canal du crédit pour la production industrielle. Les résultats sont très différents dans le cas de l’inflation, à l’exception de la Corée. Le classement élevé canal du taux de change et du canal du prix des actifs correspondent aux résultats de Gudmundsson (2007) : le canal du taux de change pourrait avoir pris une importance grandissante avec la développement de la globalisation financière.Dans le troisième chapitre, nous étudions empiriquement le rôle de l’ouverture - réelle et financière - sur la dynamique de l’inflation au Brésil, Chile en Corée du Sud. L’étude se base sur des données mensuelles, depuis l’adoption du ciblage d’inflation jusqu’à décembre 2009. Dans ce dernier chapitre, nous utilisons méthode de moments généralisée (GMM). Le ratio Importation sur PIB est considéré comme étant l’indicateur de l’ouverture réelle. En ce qui concerne l’ouverture financière, nous considérons alternativement l’indice de Chinn et Ito (KAOPEN) mesurant le degré de libéralisation des opérations sur le compte financier, et l’indicateur proposé per Lane et Milesi-Ferreti (2009).Nous concluons dans ce chapitre qu’il existe en général une relation positive entre l’ouverture réelle et l’inflation. En ce qui concerne l’ouverture financière, les résultats sont moins tranchés et dépendent largement de l’indicateur utilisé pour mesurer l’ouverture financière. / The aim of this thesis is to analyze the impact of globalization on the dynamics of inflation and monetary policy in a globalized world. It consists of three essays.In the first essay we investigate the impact of financial globalization on the behaviour of inflation targeting emerging market economies with respect to exchange rate – Do central banks respond to exchange rate movements or not? We use quarterly data for six emerging market inflation targeting economies from the date of their inflation targeting adoption to 2009 Q4. The chapter uses small open economy new Keynesian model à la Gali and Monacelli (2005), and employs multi-equation GMM technique to investigate the relationship. We find that the response of central bank to the exchange rate in case of Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Thailand is statistically significant while insignificant for Korea and Czech Republic. Theoretically, it should not be so as even under flexible inflation targeting central bank responds to inflation deviation and output gap; we think that the peculiar characteristics of emerging markets, like fear of floating, weak financial system and low level of central bank credibility make exchange rate important for these economies. In the second essay we investigate empirically the relative importance of monetary transmission channels for Brazil, Chile and Korea. This chapter uses monthly data from the inception of inflation targeting regime to 2009 M12. We use a SVAR model incorporating the main monetary transmission channels combined together instead of individual channels in isolation. The empirical results indicate that the exchange rate channel and the share price channel have higher relative importance than the traditional interest rate and credit channel for industrial production. The results are not much different in case of inflation, except for Korea. The high ranking of exchange rate and share price channel is in line with the results by Gudmundsson (2007), which finds that exchange rate channel might have overburdened in the wake of financial globalization.In the third chapter we investigate empirically the role of openness – real and financial – on the inflation dynamics of Brazil, Chile and Korea. The chapter uses monthly data from the inception of inflation targeting regime to the end month of 2009. In this chapter we employ the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique. We use imports to GDP ratio as an indicator for real openness whereas Chinn and Ito index (KAOPEN) and total assets plus total liabilities to GDP ratio form the data set of Lane and Milesi-Ferretti are two proxies for financial openness. The chapter concludes that there exists, generally, a positive relationship between real openness and inflation. However, in case of financial globalization the results are inconclusive as they are sensitive to measurement method of financial globalization.

L’objectif de ce travail est d’analyser les implications du choix de régime de change dans les pays émergents et en développement, ainsi que d’apporter des éclaircissements sur les facteurs jouant un rôle important dans le déclenchement des crises (de change, bancaires, financières…) dans ces pays. Pour cela, l’analyse se tourne, dans un premier temps, vers la question du choix de régime de change optimal. Cette partie du travail s’appuie principalement sur un grand nombre de travaux théoriques et empiriques traitant de cette question, pour mettre en lumière les implications de ce choix, tout en tenant compte des particularités du groupe de pays qui font l’objet de cette étude. Dans une deuxième partie nous nous intéressons aux crises et les facteurs qui jouent un rôle majeur dans leur incidence. Ainsi, après une revue des différents modèles de crises afin d’identifier les variables d’intérêt, nous construisons deux modèles de prédiction des crises, ou « d’alarme précoce ». Enfin, la troisième partie du travail rassemble les enseignements tirés des deux parties précédentes pour traiter d’une question qui prend une ampleur croissante dans ces pays : étant donné la logique d’intégration financière mondiale et les avantages présentés par un régime de changes flottants dans un tel contexte, de quelle manière un pays envisageant un sortie vers ce régime de change peut-il la planifier, et à quel moment doit-il l’entreprendre, pour réussir une sortie sans crise majeure, que nous qualifions de sortie « ordonnée » ? Pour répondre à cette question, nous nous appuyons sur des expériences passées qui nous permettent de construire un modèle identifiant les variables susceptibles d’accroître la probabilité d’une sortie ordonnée. Nous complétons ce modèle par quelques considérations supplémentaires qui constituent des conditions importantes à la réussite d’une sortie ordonnée. L’objectif est d’apporter des recommandations susceptibles de faciliter cette transition. / The aim of this work is to analyze the implications of exchange rate regime choice in developing and emerging market economies, as well as highlight the factors that play a major role in the incidence of crises (currency, banking, financial…) in these countries. With this aim in mind, we start our analysis by turning to the question of the choice of the optimal exchange rate regime. This part of our work draws on a large number of both theoretical and empirical works evoking this question in order to determine the implications of this choice, all the while keeping in mind the fact that this particular group of countries present certain characteristics that are usually absent in their industrial counterparts. The second part of our work concentrates more specifically on crises and the factors that play a major role in their occurrence. Therefore, following a brief overview of different crisis models in order to identify the variables of interest, we propose two models for crisis prediction, or “Early Warning Systems”. Finally, the third and final part of our work brings together the conclusions of the earlier parts in order to address an issue that is becoming increasingly important in developing and emerging market economies: given their greater integration in international financial and capital markets, as well as the incontestable advantages of a floating exchange rate regime in such a context, how can a country wishing to exit to a more flexible exchange rate arrangement undertake such a transition, and when, in order to achieve an “orderly” exit, that is, an exit that is not accompanied by a crisis? To answer this question we draw on past experiences to construct a model indentifying the economic variables that might increase the probability of an orderly exit. We complete this model with a number of additional considerations that have recently emerged as important preconditions for an orderly exit, in order to provide some useful policy recommendations facilitating this transition.