This dissertation consists of three chapters. In the first chapter, we study the role of financial frictions on the demand side of the economy. In particular, we study the interaction between firm and household credit constraints over the business cycle. We construct a real business cycle model with explicit modeling of price and quantity side of housing. This allows us to include both firm and household financing frictions. The model is estimated for the U.S economy using quarterly data on key macroeconomic variables over the period 1970 - 2006. Household and firm financial accelerators operate primarily through movement in house and capital prices respectively. We find clear evidence of the operation of a financial accelerator mechanism, whereby shocks to the economy are amplified most in the presence of both types of frictions, as opposed to just firm or household frictions. Over the business cycle, total factor productivity shocks in the non-housing sector explain about half of the volatility of GDP and consumption. However, cyclical variations in housing investment and housing prices are predominantly explained by housing preference and housing technology shocks. Finally, spillovers from household financing frictions are mostly concentrated in consumption. However, they also affect business investment via its impact on the demand for capital and consequently its price. The second chapter focuses on financial frictions on the supply side. We study the role of bank capital in the transmission of shocks to the economy. Given the evolutionary change in the financial services industry and the growth of shadow banking in the decades prior to the global recession, we characterize credit intermediation with a heterogeneous banking sector comprised of traditional retail and shadow banking. We approach the shadow banking system from a regulation perspective wherein commercial banks have incentives to transfer loans from on- to off-balance sheet to gain regulatory relief. Since bank capital is costly, banks cover part of their funding needs by loan sale in the secondary market. Furthermore, these transferred loans are bundled together and converted into liquid asset backed securities. Commercial banks’ effective return is subject to their monitoring effort, which is unobservable and hence introduces a moral hazard problem in loan sale. This limits the amount of loan sold in the secondary market. We find that loan sale and securitization enhances credit intermediation in normal times and improves the resilience of the system to productivity shocks. However, it also exposes the economy to shocks emerging in the financial system. In response to financial market shocks, the government via its backstop program, can ameliorate its impact on the economy. Finally, we compare the model economy with Basel I and Basel II capital requirement and find that business cycle fluctuations are amplified under Basel II regime. Furthermore, in response to a negative productivity shock there is a transfer of loans from on to off balance sheet under Basel II rules with procyclical capital constraints. This points towards a need for countercyclical capital requirement as being implemented under Basel III accord. In the third chapter, we focus on the question of trade off between price and financial stability goals for the conduct of monetary policy. The recent crisis has generated renewed interest in Hayekian theory and Minsky’s instability hypothesis, which claims that accommodative monetary policy can be harmful for an economy by promoting excessive risk taking – the so called risk taking channel of monetary policy transmission. Risk Taking Channel has been documented for the U.S and Euro area and we investigate the presence of this in Asia. Using annual and quarterly data on publicly listed banks in Asia, we find that when interest rates are too low - lower than a benchmark - bank risk increases. Furthermore, there is also a case for greater supervision and capital stringency to alleviate risk taking.

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Esta tese é composta por três ensaios sobre a estimação bayesiana de modelos DSGE com fricções financeiras para o Brasil. O primeiro ensaio tem o objetivo de analisar como a incorporação de intermediários financeiros num modelo DSGE influenciam na análise do ciclo econômico, bem como uma política de crédito pode ser utilizada para mitigar os choques no mercado de crédito sobre a atividade. O governo brasileiro expandiu o crédito na economia através das instituições financeiras públicas tendo como custo o aumento da dívida pública. Para isso, foi estimado um modelo inspirado em Gertler e Karadi (2011) para avaliar o comportamento da economia brasileira sob a influência de uma política de crédito. Política de crédito mostrou-se efetiva para mitigar os efeitos recessivos de uma crise financeira que atinja a cotação dos ativos privados ou o patrimônio das instituições financeiras. Contudo, a política monetária tradicional se mostrou mais eficiente para a estabilização da inflação em momentos de normalidade. O segundo ensaio consiste na estimação de um modelo DSGE-VAR para a economia brasileira. A parte DSGE consiste em uma economia pequena, aberta e com fricções financeiras na linha de Gertler, Gilchrist e Natalucci (2007). A estimação do modelo indicou que flexibilização do espaço paramétrico possibilitado pelo modelo DSGE-VAR proporcionou ganhos em relação ao ajuste aos dados em relação a modelos alternativos. O exercício também obteve indicações de que os choques externos apresentam impactos significativos no patrimônio e no endividamento das firmas domésticas. Esse resultado fortalece a evidência de que um canal importante de transmissão dos movimentos da economia mundial para a o Brasil ocorre através das firmas. Por fim, no terceiro ensaio tem como foco a transmissão dos choques no spread de crédito bancário para as demais variáveis da economia e suas implicações para a condução da política monetária no brasil. Para isso, foi estimado um modelo DSGE com fricções financeiras para a economia brasileira. O modelo é baseado em Cúrdia e Woodford (2010), que propuseram uma extensão do modelo de Woodford (2003) para incorporar a existência de um diferencial entre a taxa de juros disponíveis aos poupadores e tomadores de empréstimos, que pode variar por razões tanto endógenas quanto exógenos. Nessa economia, a política monetária pode responder não somente às variações na taxa de inflação e hiato do produto através de uma regra simples, como também por meio de uma regra ajustada pelo spread de crédito da economia. Os resultados mostram que a inclusão do spread de crédito no modelo Novo Keynesiano não altera significativamente as conclusões dos modelos DSGE em respostas a perturbações exógenas tradicionais, como choques na taxa de juros, na produtividade da economia e no dispêndio público. Porém, nos eventos que ocasionam a deterioração da intermediação financeira, por meio de choques exógenos sobre o spread de crédito, o impacto sobre o ciclo econômico foi significativo e a adoção de uma regra de política monetária ajustada pelo spread pode conseguir estabilizar a economia mais rapidamente do que uma regra tradicional. / The present thesis is a collection of three essays on Bayesian estimation of DSGE models with financial frictions in the Brazilian economy. The first essay intends to investigate how the incorporation of financial intermediaries in a DSGE model influences the analysis of the economic cycle, as well as how the credit policy can be employed to mitigate the effects of shocks in the credit market on the economic activity. The Brazilian government expanded the credit in the economy through public financial institutions, which resulted in an increase of public debt. it estimated a model inspired by Gertler and Karadi (2011) to evaluate the performance of the Brazilian economy under the influence of a credit policy. Credit policy was effective to mitigate the recessionary effects of a financial crisis that affects the valuation of private assets and the net worth of financial institutions. However, the traditional monetary policy was more efficient for the stabilization of inflation in times of normality. The second essay consist of a DSGE-VAR model for the Brazilian economy. The DSGE model was estimated for a small, open economy with financial frictions, in line with Gertler, Gilchrist and Natalucci (2007). The results indicates that the estimation of DSGE-VAR provides an advantage for the data fitting in comparison to alternative models. In addition, the results indicate that external shocks have significant impacts in the equity and debt of domestic firms. This result strengthens (supports) the evidence that an important channel of transmission of the movements of the world economy for the Brazil takes place through productive sector. The third essay analyze the transmission of shocks in the banking credit spread for the other variables of the economy and its implications for the conduct of monetary policy in Brazil. We do so by estimating a DSGE model with financial frictions for the Brazilian economy. The model is based on Cúrdia and Woodford (2010), who proposed an extension of the model Woodford (2003) to incorporate the existence of a differential between the interest rates available to savers and borrowers, which can vary by both endogenous and exogenous reasons. In this model, monetary policy can respond not only to changes in the inflation rate and output gap through a simple rule, but also through a rule set by the credit spread of the economy. The results show that the inclusion of credit spread in the New Keynesian model does not significantly changes the conclusions of DSGE models in traditional responses to exogenous shocks, such as shocks in the interest rate, in the productivity of the economy and in public spending. However, in the events that cause the deterioration of financial intermediation through exogenous shocks on the credit spread, the impact on the business cycle was significant and the adoption of a monetary policy rule set by the spread can achieve a faster stabilization of the economy than a traditional rule.

Esta tese é composta por três ensaios sobre a estimação bayesiana de modelos DSGE com fricções financeiras para o Brasil. O primeiro ensaio tem o objetivo de analisar como a incorporação de intermediários financeiros num modelo DSGE influenciam na análise do ciclo econômico, bem como uma política de crédito pode ser utilizada para mitigar os choques no mercado de crédito sobre a atividade. O governo brasileiro expandiu o crédito na economia através das instituições financeiras públicas tendo como custo o aumento da dívida pública. Para isso, foi estimado um modelo inspirado em Gertler e Karadi (2011) para avaliar o comportamento da economia brasileira sob a influência de uma política de crédito. Política de crédito mostrou-se efetiva para mitigar os efeitos recessivos de uma crise financeira que atinja a cotação dos ativos privados ou o patrimônio das instituições financeiras. Contudo, a política monetária tradicional se mostrou mais eficiente para a estabilização da inflação em momentos de normalidade. O segundo ensaio consiste na estimação de um modelo DSGE-VAR para a economia brasileira. A parte DSGE consiste em uma economia pequena, aberta e com fricções financeiras na linha de Gertler, Gilchrist e Natalucci (2007). A estimação do modelo indicou que flexibilização do espaço paramétrico possibilitado pelo modelo DSGE-VAR proporcionou ganhos em relação ao ajuste aos dados em relação a modelos alternativos. O exercício também obteve indicações de que os choques externos apresentam impactos significativos no patrimônio e no endividamento das firmas domésticas. Esse resultado fortalece a evidência de que um canal importante de transmissão dos movimentos da economia mundial para a o Brasil ocorre através das firmas. Por fim, no terceiro ensaio tem como foco a transmissão dos choques no spread de crédito bancário para as demais variáveis da economia e suas implicações para a condução da política monetária no brasil. Para isso, foi estimado um modelo DSGE com fricções financeiras para a economia brasileira. O modelo é baseado em Cúrdia e Woodford (2010), que propuseram uma extensão do modelo de Woodford (2003) para incorporar a existência de um diferencial entre a taxa de juros disponíveis aos poupadores e tomadores de empréstimos, que pode variar por razões tanto endógenas quanto exógenos. Nessa economia, a política monetária pode responder não somente às variações na taxa de inflação e hiato do produto através de uma regra simples, como também por meio de uma regra ajustada pelo spread de crédito da economia. Os resultados mostram que a inclusão do spread de crédito no modelo Novo Keynesiano não altera significativamente as conclusões dos modelos DSGE em respostas a perturbações exógenas tradicionais, como choques na taxa de juros, na produtividade da economia e no dispêndio público. Porém, nos eventos que ocasionam a deterioração da intermediação financeira, por meio de choques exógenos sobre o spread de crédito, o impacto sobre o ciclo econômico foi significativo e a adoção de uma regra de política monetária ajustada pelo spread pode conseguir estabilizar a economia mais rapidamente do que uma regra tradicional. / The present thesis is a collection of three essays on Bayesian estimation of DSGE models with financial frictions in the Brazilian economy. The first essay intends to investigate how the incorporation of financial intermediaries in a DSGE model influences the analysis of the economic cycle, as well as how the credit policy can be employed to mitigate the effects of shocks in the credit market on the economic activity. The Brazilian government expanded the credit in the economy through public financial institutions, which resulted in an increase of public debt. it estimated a model inspired by Gertler and Karadi (2011) to evaluate the performance of the Brazilian economy under the influence of a credit policy. Credit policy was effective to mitigate the recessionary effects of a financial crisis that affects the valuation of private assets and the net worth of financial institutions. However, the traditional monetary policy was more efficient for the stabilization of inflation in times of normality. The second essay consist of a DSGE-VAR model for the Brazilian economy. The DSGE model was estimated for a small, open economy with financial frictions, in line with Gertler, Gilchrist and Natalucci (2007). The results indicates that the estimation of DSGE-VAR provides an advantage for the data fitting in comparison to alternative models. In addition, the results indicate that external shocks have significant impacts in the equity and debt of domestic firms. This result strengthens (supports) the evidence that an important channel of transmission of the movements of the world economy for the Brazil takes place through productive sector. The third essay analyze the transmission of shocks in the banking credit spread for the other variables of the economy and its implications for the conduct of monetary policy in Brazil. We do so by estimating a DSGE model with financial frictions for the Brazilian economy. The model is based on Cúrdia and Woodford (2010), who proposed an extension of the model Woodford (2003) to incorporate the existence of a differential between the interest rates available to savers and borrowers, which can vary by both endogenous and exogenous reasons. In this model, monetary policy can respond not only to changes in the inflation rate and output gap through a simple rule, but also through a rule set by the credit spread of the economy. The results show that the inclusion of credit spread in the New Keynesian model does not significantly changes the conclusions of DSGE models in traditional responses to exogenous shocks, such as shocks in the interest rate, in the productivity of the economy and in public spending. However, in the events that cause the deterioration of financial intermediation through exogenous shocks on the credit spread, the impact on the business cycle was significant and the adoption of a monetary policy rule set by the spread can achieve a faster stabilization of the economy than a traditional rule.

Esta tese é composta por três ensaios sobre a estimação bayesiana de modelos DSGE com fricções financeiras para o Brasil. O primeiro ensaio tem o objetivo de analisar como a incorporação de intermediários financeiros num modelo DSGE influenciam na análise do ciclo econômico, bem como uma política de crédito pode ser utilizada para mitigar os choques no mercado de crédito sobre a atividade. O governo brasileiro expandiu o crédito na economia através das instituições financeiras públicas tendo como custo o aumento da dívida pública. Para isso, foi estimado um modelo inspirado em Gertler e Karadi (2011) para avaliar o comportamento da economia brasileira sob a influência de uma política de crédito. Política de crédito mostrou-se efetiva para mitigar os efeitos recessivos de uma crise financeira que atinja a cotação dos ativos privados ou o patrimônio das instituições financeiras. Contudo, a política monetária tradicional se mostrou mais eficiente para a estabilização da inflação em momentos de normalidade. O segundo ensaio consiste na estimação de um modelo DSGE-VAR para a economia brasileira. A parte DSGE consiste em uma economia pequena, aberta e com fricções financeiras na linha de Gertler, Gilchrist e Natalucci (2007). A estimação do modelo indicou que flexibilização do espaço paramétrico possibilitado pelo modelo DSGE-VAR proporcionou ganhos em relação ao ajuste aos dados em relação a modelos alternativos. O exercício também obteve indicações de que os choques externos apresentam impactos significativos no patrimônio e no endividamento das firmas domésticas. Esse resultado fortalece a evidência de que um canal importante de transmissão dos movimentos da economia mundial para a o Brasil ocorre através das firmas. Por fim, no terceiro ensaio tem como foco a transmissão dos choques no spread de crédito bancário para as demais variáveis da economia e suas implicações para a condução da política monetária no brasil. Para isso, foi estimado um modelo DSGE com fricções financeiras para a economia brasileira. O modelo é baseado em Cúrdia e Woodford (2010), que propuseram uma extensão do modelo de Woodford (2003) para incorporar a existência de um diferencial entre a taxa de juros disponíveis aos poupadores e tomadores de empréstimos, que pode variar por razões tanto endógenas quanto exógenos. Nessa economia, a política monetária pode responder não somente às variações na taxa de inflação e hiato do produto através de uma regra simples, como também por meio de uma regra ajustada pelo spread de crédito da economia. Os resultados mostram que a inclusão do spread de crédito no modelo Novo Keynesiano não altera significativamente as conclusões dos modelos DSGE em respostas a perturbações exógenas tradicionais, como choques na taxa de juros, na produtividade da economia e no dispêndio público. Porém, nos eventos que ocasionam a deterioração da intermediação financeira, por meio de choques exógenos sobre o spread de crédito, o impacto sobre o ciclo econômico foi significativo e a adoção de uma regra de política monetária ajustada pelo spread pode conseguir estabilizar a economia mais rapidamente do que uma regra tradicional. / The present thesis is a collection of three essays on Bayesian estimation of DSGE models with financial frictions in the Brazilian economy. The first essay intends to investigate how the incorporation of financial intermediaries in a DSGE model influences the analysis of the economic cycle, as well as how the credit policy can be employed to mitigate the effects of shocks in the credit market on the economic activity. The Brazilian government expanded the credit in the economy through public financial institutions, which resulted in an increase of public debt. it estimated a model inspired by Gertler and Karadi (2011) to evaluate the performance of the Brazilian economy under the influence of a credit policy. Credit policy was effective to mitigate the recessionary effects of a financial crisis that affects the valuation of private assets and the net worth of financial institutions. However, the traditional monetary policy was more efficient for the stabilization of inflation in times of normality. The second essay consist of a DSGE-VAR model for the Brazilian economy. The DSGE model was estimated for a small, open economy with financial frictions, in line with Gertler, Gilchrist and Natalucci (2007). The results indicates that the estimation of DSGE-VAR provides an advantage for the data fitting in comparison to alternative models. In addition, the results indicate that external shocks have significant impacts in the equity and debt of domestic firms. This result strengthens (supports) the evidence that an important channel of transmission of the movements of the world economy for the Brazil takes place through productive sector. The third essay analyze the transmission of shocks in the banking credit spread for the other variables of the economy and its implications for the conduct of monetary policy in Brazil. We do so by estimating a DSGE model with financial frictions for the Brazilian economy. The model is based on Cúrdia and Woodford (2010), who proposed an extension of the model Woodford (2003) to incorporate the existence of a differential between the interest rates available to savers and borrowers, which can vary by both endogenous and exogenous reasons. In this model, monetary policy can respond not only to changes in the inflation rate and output gap through a simple rule, but also through a rule set by the credit spread of the economy. The results show that the inclusion of credit spread in the New Keynesian model does not significantly changes the conclusions of DSGE models in traditional responses to exogenous shocks, such as shocks in the interest rate, in the productivity of the economy and in public spending. However, in the events that cause the deterioration of financial intermediation through exogenous shocks on the credit spread, the impact on the business cycle was significant and the adoption of a monetary policy rule set by the spread can achieve a faster stabilization of the economy than a traditional rule.

In recent years the New Keynesian framework has become widely used to identify the relationship between monetary policy, inflation, the business cycle and welfare. Most commonly in these models inertia in prices are introduced only through the aggregate supply side which generates a short run non-neutrality of money. This thesis begins with an investigation into the impact of sticky prices on the macroeconomic equilibrium through aggregate demand. We show that in models of price stickiness among differentiated goods aggregate consumption deviates from the conventional Euler equation due to relative price distortions. This has some non-negligible implications: there are additional inflation effects, which enter through aggregate demand, that lower the response of the marginal cost and dampen responses of inflation and output; products' price elasticity of demand affects equilibrium output and inflation dynamics independently of supply factors; monetary policy responses are smoother than in the conventional new Keynesian models, particularly the more competitive are the products markets. In chapter 2 we continue with an investigation into the impact that the aforementioned channel has on welfare and monetary policy under various regimes. Specifically, we compare our results with the benchmark New Keynesian model with a cost channel for alternative levels of competition in the goods market. When the central bank is assumed to follow a Taylor rule we find, contrary to the standard New Keynesian literature, that welfare losses ultimately fall as the goods market becomes more competitive. Furthermore, there are additional adverse implications for welfare coming through an exaggerated stabilisation bias associated with discretionary policy in our model version. A move to optimal commitment implies significant additional gains compared to the standard literature by; eliminating this amplified stabilisation bias and; reducing further the fall in output gap and inflation fluctuations at the time of shock. The final part of this thesis develops a Generalised Taylor economy to include a financial market. This finance sector is characterised by savings contracts to households and loan contracts to firms, both of which are differentiated by the duration for which their interest rate remains fixed. Additionally, a time varying external finance premium on loan rates is introduced through an endogenous probability of firm default. Using break-even conditions we show that the fixed markup on loan rates is dependent on, the expected default risk over the lifetime of the contract, and, spillovers from the unexpected losses of current "locked in" financial contracts that must be accounted for in the zero profit condition of the commercial bank. Our results indicate that inertia in loan and savings rates dampens the responses of monetary policy and the business cycle whilst generating a procylical loan rate spread. In contrast, risk of default amplifies the business cycle and delivers a countercyclical loan rate spread. The overall impact of these two channels on the direction and magnitude of loan rate spreads, spillovers to new contracts and the dynamics of the business cycle, are shown depend on the type of shock hitting the economy.

Thesis advisor: Ryan A. Chahrour / The dissertation studies the primary sources of business-cycle fluctuations and their interaction with uncertainty and financial frictions. In my work, I examine the degree to which changes in uncertainty and financial conditions can be independent drivers of economic fluctuations; I study the sources of boom-bust cycles and whether they are linkedto credit market sentiments; and I ask how financial frictions affect economic fluctuations in terms of prices and quantities. In "Financial and Uncertainty Shocks", I separately identify financial and uncertainty shocks using a novel SVAR procedure and discuss their distinct monetary policy implications. The procedure relies on the qualitatively different responses of corporate cash holdings: after a financial shock, firms draw down their cash reserves as they lose access to external finance, while uncertainty shocks drive up cash holdings for precautionary reasons. Although both financial and uncertainty shocks are contractionary, my results show that the former are inflationary while the latter generate deflation. I rationalize this pattern in a New-Keynesian model: after a financial shock, firms increase prices to raise current liquidity; after an uncertainty shock, firms cut prices in response to falling demand. These distinct channels have stark monetary policy implications: conditional on uncertainty shocks the divine coincidence applies, while in case of financial shocks the central bank can stabilize inflation only at the cost of more unstable output fluctuations. In "What are the Sources of Boom-Bust Cycles?", joint with Vito Cormun, we provide a synthesis of two major views on economic fluctuations. One view maintains that expansions and recessions arise from the interchange of positive and negative persistent exogenous shocks to fundamentals. This is the conventional view that gave rise to the profusion of shocks used in modern dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models. In contrast, a second view, which we call the endogenous cycles view, holds that business cycle fluctuations are due to forces that are internal to the economy and that endogenously favor recurrent periods of boom followed by a bust. In this environment, cycles can occur after small perturbations of the long run equilibrium. We find empirical evidence pointing at the coexistence of both views. In particular, we find that the cyclical behaviour of economic aggregates is due in part to strong internal mechanisms that generate boom-bust phenomena in response to small changes in expectations, and in part to the interchange of positive and negative persistent fundamental shocks. Motivated by our findings, we build a theory that unifies the dominant paradigm with the endogenous cycles approach. Our theory suggests that recessions and expansions are intimately related phenomena, and that understanding the nature of an expansion, whether it is driven by fundamentals or by beliefs, is a first order issue for policy makers whose mandate is to limit the occurrance of inefficient economic fluctuations. In "COVID-19 and Credit Constraints'', joint with Pierluigi Balduzzi, Emanuele Brancati, and Fabio Schiantarelli, we investigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the role played by credit constraints in the transmission mechanism, using a novel survey of expectations and plans of Italian firms, taken just before and after the outbreak. Most firms revise downward their expectations for sales, orders, employment, and investment, while prices are expected to increase at a faster rate, with geographical and sectoral heterogeneity in the size of the effects. Credit constraints amplify the effects on factor demand and sales of the COVID-19 generated shocks. Credit-constrained firms also expect to charge higher prices, relative to unconstrained firms. The search for and availability of liquidity is a key determinant of firms' plans. Finally, both supply and demand shocks play a role in shaping firms' expectations and plans, with supply shocks being slightly more important in the aggregate. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

More than a billion people lack access to modern electricity and instead rely on kerosene and other dirty lighting sources, grid expansion is not expected to keep pace with population growth, and both contribute to climate change. Moreover, pneumonia is the leading cause of death for under-fives in the world and kerosene smoke is a significant risk factor. For-profit distribution of low-cost solar LEDs has been touted as an answer, but adoption remains low, especially by the poorest. This study estimates demand curves for both the initial price of low-cost solar LEDs as well as the subsequent user fee for repeated purchases, while also estimating the impact of shortrun subsidies, or a free trial period, on long-run demand. We find uptake is highly sensitive to price with most households purchasing at zero price and none at full cost. Furthermore, using unique objective big data on long-term usage we show that households that received lights for free use their lights as much as those that paid a positive price, disproving the notion, in this context, that consumers will not use goods they received for free. Finally, we find short-term subsidies for user fees actually increases long-term demand in the context of repeated purchases.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第18036号 / 経博第489号 / 新制||経||268(附属図書館) / 30894 / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 柴田 章久, 教授 中嶋 智之, 准教授 敦賀 貴之 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DFAM

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