No description available.

Despite receiving large quantities of aid, many developing countries, especially the Least Developed Countries, have remained stagnant and became more aid-dependent. This grim reality provokes vigorous debate on the effectiveness of aid. This study re-examines the effectiveness of aid, focusing on the ongoing debate on the interactive effect of aid and policy conditionality on sustainable economic growth. A theoretical model of the aid-growth nexus was developed to explain why policy conditionality attached to aid may not always promote sustainable economic growth. Noticeable methodological weaknesses in the aid fungibility and aid-growth models have led to the construction of two macroeconometric models to tackle and reduce these weaknesses. The Lao People's Democratic Republic's economy for the 1978-2001 period has been used for a case study.It is argued that the quality of policy conditionality and the recipient country's ability to complete specified policy conditions are the main factors determining the effectiveness of aid. Completing the policy prescriptions contributes to a stable aid inflow. The aid-growth nexus model developed in this study shows that stable and moderate aid inflow boosts economic growth even when aid is fungible. However, failure to complete the policy conditionality owing to inadequate policy design and problems of policy mismanagement caused by lack of state and institutional capability in the recipient country triggers an unstable aid inflow. The model shows that unstable aid flows reduce capital accumulation and economic growth in the recipient country. These empirical findings reveal that policy conditionality propagated through the "adjustment programmes" has mitigated the side effects of aid fungibility and "Dutch disease" in the case of the Lao PDR. Preliminary success in implementing the policy conditions in the pre-1997 period led to a stable aid inflow and contributed to higher economic growth. This favourable circumstance, however, was impaired by unstable aid flow in the post-1997 period. The lack of state and institutional capacity in the Lao PDR and the inadequate policy design to deal with external shocks triggered the instability of aid inflow, which in turn exacerbated the negative effects of the Asian financial crisis on the Lao PDR's economy.

This thesis is concerned with the development and use of a macroeconometric model for the Algerian economy between 1963 and 1984. The model was built because of a systematic lack of applied econometric studies pertaining to Algeria at both the macroeconomic and microeconomic level. It is hoped that the model will fill a gap in this area and will contribute to the much neglected field of applied econometric research with regard to Algeria. This lack of applied econometric studies for Algeria meant that the modelling exercise described here has had to rely on an extensive specification search based on evidence relating to Algeria's economic structure and policy, economic theory, and the experience of Less Developed Countries in the area of macroeconomic model-building. The lack of data was a major constraint in this area and part of this study consisted of collecting and compiling a large database. After the country's independence in 1962, Algerian macroeconomic policy aimed to create a strong industrial system and to satisfy the population's basic needs. It relied on heavy industrialisation to modernise the economy, oil revenues to finance development, and central planning as the major tool of macroeconomic regulation. The accumulation rate was high and the growth record was generally good. However high unemployment and inflation, considerable disequilibrium, low productivity, a vulnerable balance of payments and unsustainable external debt are the major macroeconomic problems that policy-makers have had to face. The model's equations were first estimated using the OLS method and were subjected to stringent statistical tests. The degree of test significance and parameter correspondence to a priori views on the economy was good. when the model was constructed, it was estimated using a 2SLS principal component method. The OLD results were found to be reasonably feasible. The equations were collected into a system of 63 equations and solved using dynamic simulation technique. The model was solved successfully and its tracking of historical data was reasonably good. Further tests were carried out to study its dynamic features. Having constructed the model, it was then used extensively to perform simulation analysis. The experiments ranged from those concerning the goverment's current expenditure to its monetary policy. In all, nine simulation exercises were carried out. These were revealing on the workings of the Algerian economy. The model was further used in scenario analysis. First the model was used to develop an ex ante forecast employing a linear trend model for the exogenous variables. The forecast database was used to generate multipliers. The policy analysis was constructed to coincide with the implementation of the Second Five Year Plan (1985-1989). The feasibility of the plan was examined by varying the price of oil according to three hypotheses. The aim of this test was to develop a realistic framework for applied macroeconomic analysis.

[pt] O Planejamento econômico, abordado como um problema de controle, tem por objetivo estabelecer trajetórias ótimas (ou sub-ótimas) para as variáveis que estão sujeitas ao controle do Governo. Isto significa dizer que as varáveis de política (controle) não mais serão arbitrariamente determinadas pelos seus planejadores, sendo agora resultantes de um processo de otimização , tendo em vista o cumprimento de metas previamente estabelecidas. Neste artigo aplicamos um controlador adaptativo de certeza equivalente a um modelo macroeconométrico da economia brasileira, considerando erro de medida nas variáveis de estado. A adoção de um controlador adaptativo é justificada tendo em vista as críticas (principalmente a crítica de Lucas) que recaíram sobre os modelos macroeconométricos estacionários. Uma das formas adequadas de se tratar a não estacionariedade de tais modelos é por intermédio de um controlador adaptativo cujo objetivo será controlar e identificar simultaneamente o modelo em questão. Apresentamos uma pequena resenha das aplicações de controle ótimo e controle adaptativo em problema econômicos, ressaltando a aplicação de ambas as técnicas em modelos macroeconométricos com expectativas racionais. Por intermédio de simulações comparamos a política realmente efetivada pelo governo federal e a política ótima obtida via controle ótimo não adaptativo. / [en] Economic planning, when considered as a control problem, has as its objective establishing optimal (or sub-optimal) trajectories for the variables subject to Government Control. This means that the policy variables (control), instead of being arbitrarily determined by the policymakers, will be the result of an optimization process, with the objective of reaching pre-established goals. In this work a Certainly Equivalence Adaptative Control is applied to a macroeconometric model of the Brazilian economy with measurement error. Since the employment of time-invariant models has been widely criticized (Lucas critique) the model used here is time- varying. An adequate way to treat such a case is through an adaptative control scheme, in which control and identification of the model are perfomed simultaneously. By means of simulations the policy obtained with the adaptative controller is compared to the policy adopted by the Brazilian Government.

This thesis is concerned with the development and use of a macroeconometric model for the Algerian economy between 1963 and 1984. The model was built because of a systematic lack of applied econometric studies pertaining to Algeria at both the macroeconomic and microeconomic level. It is hoped that the model will fill a gap in this area and will contribute to the much neglected field of applied econometric research with regard to Algeria. This lack of applied econometric studies for Algeria meant that the modelling exercise described here has had to rely on an extensive specification search based on evidence relating to Algeria's economic structure and policy, economic theory, and the experience of Less Developed Countries in the area of macroeconomic model-building. The lack of data was a major constraint in this area and part of this study consisted of collecting and compiling a large database. After the country's independence in 1962, Algerian macroeconomic policy aimed to create a strong industrial system and to satisfy the population's basic needs. It relied on heavy industrialisation to modernise the economy, oil revenues to finance development, and central planning as the major tool of macroeconomic regulation. The accumulation rate was high and the growth record was generally good. However high unemployment and inflation, considerable disequilibrium, low productivity, a vulnerable balance of payments and unsustainable external debt are the major macroeconomic problems that policy-makers have had to face. The model's equations were first estimated using the OLS method and were subjected to stringent statistical tests. The degree of test significance and parameter correspondence to a priori views on the economy was good. when the model was constructed, it was estimated using a 2SLS principal component method. The OLD results were found to be reasonably feasible. The equations were collected into a system of 63 equations and solved using dynamic simulation technique. The model was solved successfully and its tracking of historical data was reasonably good. Further tests were carried out to study its dynamic features. Having constructed the model, it was then used extensively to perform simulation analysis. The experiments ranged from those concerning the goverment's current expenditure to its monetary policy. In all, nine simulation exercises were carried out. These were revealing on the workings of the Algerian economy. The model was further used in scenario analysis. First the model was used to develop an ex ante forecast employing a linear trend model for the exogenous variables. The forecast database was used to generate multipliers. The policy analysis was constructed to coincide with the implementation of the Second Five Year Plan (1985-1989). The feasibility of the plan was examined by varying the price of oil according to three hypotheses. The aim of this test was to develop a realistic framework for applied macroeconomic analysis. / Algerian Ministry of Higher Education

Cette thèse prend pour objet les transformations de l’analyse macroéconomique aux États-Unis durant les années 1970 tout en questionnant la manière d’étudier et d’analyser ces transformations. Du point de vue de l’histoire des faits, la période semble marquer une rupture par rapport à la relative stabilité économique de l’après-guerre. Cette période d’instabilité économique, qu’on nomme stagflation, fait écho à l’instabilité de la théorie macroéconomique aux États-Unis. Le consensus de l’époque, considéré comme « keynésien », se retrouve attaqué par les économistes dits « monétaristes » et « nouveaux classiques ». Le dernier des groupes cités est celui des « révolutionnaires », celui dont on considère qu’il a changé radicalement la discipline. Le but de ma thèse est d’étudier l’influence des nouveaux classiques sur la macroéconomie dans les années 1970 en mobilisant un appareil historiographique qui met au cœur de l’étude le rôle joué par la stagflation, et de confronter les résultats de cette étude avec l’histoire « conventionnelle » de la macroéconomie. La thèse s’articule autour de quatre articles indépendants les uns des autres. Le premier chapitre propose une comparaison entre les méthodologies de Lucas et Sargent, et montre que le second tente de donner un caractère plus réaliste aux modèles de la Nouvelle Économie Classique, en utilisant les anticipations rationnelles pour décrire différents phénomènes économiques. Le second chapitre prend pour objet la confrontation entre Lucas et Sargent d’un côté, et les défenseurs des modèles macroéconométriques structurels de l’autre. Le chapitre 3 étudie l’évolution des travaux de Robert Gordon sur l’inflation dans les années 1970 et documente la manière dont celui-ci adopte petit à petit l’hypothèse de taux de chômage naturel. Le chapitre 4 enfin s’intéresse aux débats empiriques au début des années 1980, autour de la crise de Lucas. / This thesis focuses on the transformations of macroeconomics in the United States during the 1970s, while questioning the way to study and to analyze these transformations. From the point of view of economic history, the period seems to mark a break with the relative stability post World War II years. This period of economic stability, that one calls “stagflation”, echoes the instability of U.S. macroeconomic theory. The consensus of the time, regarded as “Keynesian”, is attacked by economists labeled as “Monetarist” and “New Classical”. The last group is the one of “revolutionaries”, regarding as having radically transformed the discipline, as the Copernican revolution overthrown the geocentric representation of the universe. My goal in the thesis is to study the influence of New Classical economists on macroeconomics in the 1970s, by appealing to an historiographical framework which outs at the heart the role played by stagflation, and by confronting the results of this work to the standard narrative. This thesis is built around four articles, independent from one another. The first chapter proposes a comparison between the methodologies of Lucas and Sargent, and shows how the latter intend to give a more realistic character to the new classical economy models, by using rational expectations to describe different economic phenomena. The second chapter takes interest in the confrontation between Lucas and Sargent on one side, and the defenders of structural econometric models on the other. The third chapter studies the evolution in the works of Robert Gordon on inflation in the 1970s, and documents the way he gradually adopts the natural rate of unemployment hypothesis. Finally, the chapter four is interested in the empirical debates in the early 1980s, about the Lucas critique.

Le Luxembourg est le 3ème exportateur mondial de services financiers. Il figure parmi les pays qui accueillent le plus d’investissements directs en provenance de l’étranger, ce qui indique l’intensité de ses liens avec l’économie mondiale. Le but de ce travail est d’analyser l’influence éventuelle d’une économie mondiale caractérisée par l’interdépendance des marchés réels et financiers sur l’économie Luxembourgeoise. Chapitre 1 présente une analyse des interactions de l’économie Luxembourgeoise avec le monde extérieur. Le chapitre suivant est consacré à la revue de la littérature portant sur la modélisation de l’intermédiation financière au niveau macroéconomique, couvrant plusieurs types d’approches de modélisations. Enfin, le troisième chapitre comporte un modèle macroéconométrique multi-pays construit et analysé afin de simuler les scénarios plausibles. Le modèle y est présenté avec ses fondements théoriques, les résultats des simulations et une comparaison avec d’autres modèles. La nouveauté du modèle réside dans sa prise en compte du commerce international désagrégé en services financiers et autres, et des investissements internationaux en portefeuille avec leurs flux de titres et de capitaux, ainsi que de leur impact sur la croissance économique. Les résultats des simulations montrent que ce cadre d’analyse donne parfois des résultats différents par rapport aux modèles standards. Nombre de scénarios qui ne peuvent être simulés par d’autres modèles, tels que la baisse des flux internationaux d’investissements de portefeuille, sont également analysés et confirment la forte vulnérabilité du Luxembourg aux chocs externes qui ont lieu sur les marchés financiers. / Luxembourg is world’s third financial services exporter and one of world’s top recipients of foreign direct investment in value as well as per capita terms, which highlight its strong linkages with world economy. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze possible outcomes for the very small and very open economy of Luxembourg in a world environment, where real and financial markets affect each other. To better understand the characteristics of the economy and economic mechanisms behind them, a thorough analysis with emphasis put on the interactions with the outside world based on available data and relevant literature is presented (Chapter 1). Subsequently a survey of literature devoted to modeling financial intermediation at macroeconomic level across various types of modeling approaches is offered (Chapter 2). Finally, a multi-country macroeconometric model built to simulate possible scenarios is presented and analyzed (Chapter 3) with its theoretical background, simulations’ results and comparison with other models. The model is novel in that it accounts for international trade disaggregated into financial services and the rest, and international portfolio investment in securities and equity flows, that have a significant impact on the country’s economic growth. Simulations’ results show that such a framework generates sometimes markedly different results than more standard models. A number of scenarios which cannot be simulated in other models, such as American stock market fall or a decrease in international portfolio flows, are also analyzed and confirm the high vulnerability of Luxembourg economy to external shocks originating in financial markets.

Cette thèse, dont l'objectif est de faire prévaloir l'importance de la macro-économétrie dans l'histoire de la macro-économie, s'articule autour de deux questions centrales : (1) Quelles ont été les forces et les objectif qui ont motivé le développement de la modélisation macro-économétrique et quelle est la nature des outils et des institutions que les macro-économistes ont construit pour observer, comprendre et contrôler l'économie d'après-guerre aux États-Unis , (2) Quels ont été les effets de la construction et de l'utilisation de tels outils dans la production du savoir macro-économique ? En considérant Lawrence R. Klein comme une figure centrale, je parcours la discipline économique des années 1940-1950 en me focalisant sur l'intersection entre l'histoire de la macro-économie et celle de l'économétrie, et ainsi, je propose une nouvelle vision de 'économie du vingtième siècle en tant que discipline "saisie par les outils", dans laquelle la théorie (économique et statistique), l'application, l'expertise et la politique s'incorporent dans un même outil scientifique : un model macro-économétrique. j'expose donc l'histoire de la macro-économie non pas comme le produit des questions idéologiques monolithiques ou purement théoriques, mais plutôt comme le produit des visions épistémologiques et de stratégies de modélisation divergentes qui remontent aux débats entre les approches empiriques de la macro-économie étatunienne et les méthodologies Walrasienne et Marshallienne. Ainsi, je soutiens la thèse que Klein a été le personnage principal dans la création d'une nouvelle manière de produire le savoir macro-économique qui, à travers la construction et l'utilisation d'outils complexes (modèles macro-économétriques) mis en place au sein d'une configuration institutionnelle spécifique (laboratoires économétriques), poursuivait des objectifs explicites de politique économique, et par laquelle les rôles bien définis des experts (équipes scientifiques) étaient intégrées à une nouvelle pratique scientifique : la modélisation macro-économique. / In this disseration, I place macroeconometric modeling at the center of the history of twentieth century macroeconomics, i. e. as e history of macroeconometrics, and ask two central questions : (1) What exactly were the objectives and the forces driving the development of macroeconometric modeling, and what kind of tools and institutions did macroeconomists build to observe, understand, and control the US postwar economy ? (2) What were the effects that the construction and use of these tools had on the production of macroeconomic knowledge ? Taking Lawrence R. Klein as a vehicle, I travel accross the economics discipline of the 1940s and 1950s, and study the intersection between the history of macroeconomics and the history of econometrics, providing a new understanding of twentieth century economics as a "tooled" discipline, in which theory (economy and statistical), application, expertise, and policy become embedded within one scientific tool : a macroeconometric model. Consequently, I present the history of macroeconomics not as the product of monolithic ideological and purely theoretical issues, but rather of divergent epistemological views and modeling strategies that go back to the debates between US-Walrasian and US-Marshallian approaches to empirical macroeconomics in which macroeconometric modeling from the heart of macroeconometrics. My thesis is that Klein what the most important figure in the creation of a new way to produce scientific knowledge that consisted in the construction and use of compex tools (macroeconometric models) within specific institutional configurations (econometric labotories) and for explicit policy and scientific objectives, in which well-defined roles of experts (scientific teams) were embodied within a new scientific practice (macroeconometric modeling).

First of all, general principals of contemporary macroeconometric models are described in this dissertation together with a brief sketch of alternative approaches. Consequently, the macroeconomic model of a monetary policy is formulated in order to describe fundamental relationships between real and nominal economy. The model originated from a linear one by making some of the parameters endogenous. Despite this nonlinearity, I expressed my model in a state space form with time-varying coefficients, which can be solved by a standard Kalman filter. Using outcomes of this algorithm, likelihood function was then calculated and maximized in order to obtain estimates of the parameters. The theory of identifiability of a parametric structure is also described. Finally, the presented theory is applied on the formulated model of the euro area. In this model, the European Central Bank was assumed to behave according to the Taylor rule. The econometric estimation, however, showed that this common assumption in macroeconomic modeling is not adequate in this case. The results from econometric estimation and analysis of identifiability also indicated that the interest rate policy of the European Central Bank has only a very limited effect on real economic activity of the European Union. Both results are influential, as monetary policy in the last two decades has been modeled as interest rate policy with the Taylor rule in most macroeconometric models.