Does monetary policy affect the real economy? If so, what is the transmission mechanism or channel through which these effects occur? These two questions are among the most important and controversial in macroeconomics. This dissertation presents some new empirical evidence that addresses each question for the U.S. and Chinese economies. Literature on monetary transmission suggests that the monetary policy can take effect on the real economy through several ways. The most noteworthy one is credit channels, including the bank lending channel and the interest channel. First, I use a new method to test for structural breaks in the U.S. monetary policy history and present some new empirical evidence to support an operative bank lending channel in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. Results show that an operative bank lending channel existed in 1955 to 1968, and its impact on the economy has become much smaller since 1981, but it still has a significant buffering effect on output by attenuating the effect of the interest channel. Second, I adopt the recently developed time series technique to explore the puzzling negative correlation between output and stock returns in China currently, and posit that it is due to a negative link between monetary policy and stock returns when monetary policy increases output. The monetary policy has not been transmitted well in the public sector which is the principal part of Chinese stock market, and increased investment capital from monetary expansion goes to real estate sector instead of the stock market. Last, I demonstrate how monetary policy has been transmitted into the public and private sectors of China through the credit channel. The fundamental identification problem inherent in using aggregated data that leads to failure in isolating demand shock from supply shock is explicitly solved by introducing control factors. I find that the monetary policy has great impact on private sector rather than public sector through credit channel in China. These findings have important practical implications for U.S. and China’s economic development by improving the efficiency of the monetary policy because a comprehensive understanding of monetary transmission will lead to better policy design.

Does monetary policy affect the real economy? If so, what is the transmission mechanism or channel through which these effects occur? These two questions are among the most important and controversial in macroeconomics. This dissertation presents some new empirical evidence that addresses each question for the U.S. and Chinese economies. Literature on monetary transmission suggests that the monetary policy can take effect on the real economy through several ways. The most noteworthy one is credit channels, including the bank lending channel and the interest channel. First, I use a new method to test for structural breaks in the U.S. monetary policy history and present some new empirical evidence to support an operative bank lending channel in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. Results show that an operative bank lending channel existed in 1955 to 1968, and its impact on the economy has become much smaller since 1981, but it still has a significant buffering effect on output by attenuating the effect of the interest channel. Second, I adopt the recently developed time series technique to explore the puzzling negative correlation between output and stock returns in China currently, and posit that it is due to a negative link between monetary policy and stock returns when monetary policy increases output. The monetary policy has not been transmitted well in the public sector which is the principal part of Chinese stock market, and increased investment capital from monetary expansion goes to real estate sector instead of the stock market. Last, I demonstrate how monetary policy has been transmitted into the public and private sectors of China through the credit channel. The fundamental identification problem inherent in using aggregated data that leads to failure in isolating demand shock from supply shock is explicitly solved by introducing control factors. I find that the monetary policy has great impact on private sector rather than public sector through credit channel in China. These findings have important practical implications for U.S. and China’s economic development by improving the efficiency of the monetary policy because a comprehensive understanding of monetary transmission will lead to better policy design.

The primary objective of this thesis is to analyse the relationship between money and the macro-economy in Sri Lanka between 1977 and 1985, in order to identify the paths through which monetary policy impulses are transmitted over this period. In doing so, - we also hope to highlight the use of macro-simulation as a tool for the analysis of the monetary transmission mechanism and to emphasise the importance of formulating monetary policy within an explicit monetary control framework. This is especially important in Sri Lanka since monetary policy has been a key instrument of demand management since 1977 and historically there has been a noticeable absence of an explicit monetary control framework. Empirical research on the monetary transmission mechanism has been very limited as far as developing countries are concerned. An exception here is the SEACEN (1981) study which simulates the effects of monetary shocks on a number of South East Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, using a flexible monetarist approach. Our research is based upon a revision of the specification of this model for Sri Lanka and a more comprehensive disaggregation of the monetary transmission channels. Our empirical model produces statistical results which are generally acceptable and conform to a Priori expectations. This model is then simulated dynamically, both, to validate the equations in the context of a complete model and to quantify the impact of alternative policy scenarios relating to the monetary transmission mechanism in Sri Lanka. We believe that our results will help to shed light on the nature of the monetary transmission mechanism in developing countries as well as provide the basis for an on-going analysis of monetary management in Sri Lanka.

Bakgrund: I november 2014 beslutade Riksbanken att ta steget mot en nollränta och i februari 2015 gick Riksbanken ut med ytterligare en sänkning till -0,10 procent. På så vis fick Sverige för första gången en negativ reporänta. Enligt makroekonomisk teori ska en sänkning av reporäntan stimulera konsumtion och investeringar i ekonomin. Huruvida reporäntan och dess räntesänkningar skapar förutsättningar för företag att investera är ett aktuellt och viktigt forskningsområde. Forskningen i ämnet är tunn på den svenska marknaden och således är forskningsbidraget från denna studie av betydelse.Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka och analysera hur förändringar i reporänta, makro-ekonomiska faktorer samt finansiella indikatorer påverkar investeringar hos svenska företag.Genomförande: Studien bygger på en kvantitativ metod. En Vector Autoregressive model har skapats för att redogöra hur reporäntan, de makroekonomiska faktorerna och de finansiella indikatorerna påverkar företagens investeringar. För att möjliggöra en analys av dessa effekter har impulse response functions skattats i modellen. På så vis undersöks det hur en isolerad enhetsökning i de valda variablerna påverkar företagens investeringar över flera tidsperioder. För att genomföra en mer omfattande analys skattas tre modeller där den första tar hänsyn till både makroekonomiska faktorer och finansiella indikatorer. Den andra modellen exkluderar de finansiella indikatorerna och den tredje modellen speglar reporäntans utveckling i två olika tidsperioder.Resultat: Företagens investeringar påverkas av flertalet faktorer. En enhetsökning av utlåningsräntan, växelkursen och företagens inflationsförväntningar uppvisar ett signifikant negativt samband. En enhetsökning av BNP-tillväxten visar däremot ett signifikant positivt samband. Reporäntan visar ingen direkt effekt på investeringar i de första två modellerna. Däremot uppvisar reporäntan skillnader i den tredje modellen, där ett negativt samband förekommer i den första av de två observerade tidsperioderna. / Background: The central bank of Sweden decided in November 2014 to set the repo rate close to zero. Further they decided to lower the repo rate to -0,10 percent in February 2015. In regard to this, Sweden had a negative repo rate for the first time. According to macroeconomic theory a decrease in the repo rate is performed to stimulate an economy’s investments and consumptions. Whether or not a decrease in interest rates gives greater incentives for firms to invest is a topical subject and an important field of research. In addition to this, the existing research on the Swedish market is insufficient within this field, which gives us further motives to conduct this study.Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine and analyse how changes in the repo rate, macroeconomic factors and financial indicators affects investments of Swedish firms.Completion: The study is conducted with a quantitative approach. A Vector Autoregressive model is created in order to examine the impact of changes in the repo rate, the macroeconomic factors and the financial indicators on firms’ investments. Impulse response functions are estimated to allow a further analysis of these effects. Hence, it is conceivable to examine how one isolated unit-increase in a specific variable affects firms’ investment through several time periods. Furthermore, we estimate three models, one which includes both macroeconomic variables and financial indicators and another which excludes the financial indicators. The last model reflects the repo rate’s impact on investments in two separate time periods.Result: Investments of firms are affected by numerous of factors. One unit-increase of the lending rate, the exchange rate and firms’ expectations of inflation exhibit a negative relation to investments. Furthermore, one unit-increase in GDP-growth tends to increase investments. However, the repo rate has no impact on investments in the first two models. In spite of this, evidence from the third model indicates that the repo rate has a negative impact on investments during the first period.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:33:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CARVALHO_Leandro_2012.pdf: 2016310 bytes, checksum: fd2150f8d871fa4711e94efce3f44cc2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-30 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This paper aimed to analyze the dynamics of the evolution of interest rates in Brazil from the period after the Real Plan. It will take place throughout the dissertation a study on the adoption and operation of the system of inflation targets, as well as the functioning and organization of the National Financial System. It will be discoursed on the implementation of monetary policy by the Central Bank and also a study made of the main theoretical discussions regarding the adoption of monetary policy regime of inflation targeting. In addition, there will be an explanation of some studies that investigated empirically the effects of monetary policy on economic variables after the adoption of inflation targeting. To evaluate the effects of maintaining interest rates at high levels will be estimated using the methodology of the Vector Error Correction, the model of monetary transmission specified by Bogdanski et al. (2000), where you can analyze the behavior of variables such as income (output gap), the exchange rate, inflation and risk premium, compared to the nominal interest rate (Selic). The estimated unrestricted model (variation of the model proposed by Bogdanski et al. (2000)) showed evidence that the Selic rate, the output gap and inflation are related as expected in the target system, the basic interest rate uses the level of economic growth (gap) as an indicator of the growing economy in order to maintain stable price levels. There was also the conclusion that there is room for reduction in interest rates between the years 2012 and 2013, albeit sparingly, to levels lower than current (between 9.0% and 10%) in order to generate a stimulus to the growth of domestic investment, since they do not commit to maintaining inflation at low levels and controlled. / Neste trabalho propõe-se analisar a dinâmica da evolução da taxa de juros no Brasil, no período posterior a implementação do Plano Real. Será realizado ao longo da dissertação um estudo sobre a adoção e operacionalização do regime de metas de inflação, bem como, do funcionamento e organização do Sistema Financeiro Nacional. Será discorrido sobre a execução da política monetária pelo Banco Central e também um estudo das principais discussões teóricas feitas acerca da adoção da política monetária no regime de metas de inflação. Além disso, será realizada uma explanação sobre alguns trabalhos que buscaram avaliar empiricamente os efeitos da política monetária sobre as variáveis econômicas após a adoção do regime de metas. Para avaliar os efeitos da manutenção das taxas de juros em patamares elevados será estimado por meio da metodologia do Vetor de Correção de Erros, o modelo de transmissão monetária especificado por Bogdanski et al. (2000), em que é possível analisar o comportamento das variáveis como a renda (hiato do produto), a taxa de câmbio, a inflação e o prêmio de risco, frente à taxa nominal de juros (Selic). O modelo irrestrito estimado (variação do modelo proposto por Bogdanski et al. (2000)) mostrou evidências de que a taxa Selic, o hiato do produto e a inflação se relacionam como se espera no regime de metas, ou seja, a taxa de juros básica usa o nível de crescimento da economia (hiato) como um indicador do aquecimento da economia com o intuito de manter estáveis os níveis de preços. Chegou-se também a conclusão de que há espaço para redução da taxa de juros entre os anos de 2012 e 2013, embora de maneira parcimoniosa, a patamares menores do que os atuais (entre 9,0% e 10%) com o intuito de gerar um estímulo ao crescimento do investimento doméstico, desde que não se comprometa a manutenção da inflação em níveis baixos e controlados.

In an effort to examine role of capital markets' efficiency in transmission of monetary policy, 28 time series of market efficiency development are estimated with use of long-term memory and fractal dimension measures and a panel of 27 inflation targeting countries is constructed to run a random effect regres- sion. The cases of Czech Republic and Austria are thereafter more closely examined with use a vector-autoregressive and threshold vector-autoregressive frameworks on macroeconomic data spanning from 1996:Q3 to 2018:Q4. The evidence obtained through the conducted analyses support the hypothesis, that a more efficiently functioning capital market better contributes to monetary policy pass-through, or conversely, that high transaction costs, barriers to cap- ital market entry, or poor information availability may hinder the effects of central bank's monetary policy. JEL Classification F12, F21, F23, H25, H71, H87 Keywords capital market efficiency, inflation targeting, monetary transmission mechanism Author's e-mail teddy.krejci@gmail.com Supervisor's e-mail LK@fsv.cuni.cz

The goal of this thesis is to identify domestic and foreign shocks that mostly explain variation in the Czech price level. This goal is accomplished by the use of structural vector autoregression. As the Czech Republic is considered to be a small open economy, it is crucial to include foreign variables into the model which are represented by shocks in euro zone. Furthermore, a block exogeneity restriction is imposed because it is unlikely that shocks in the Czech economy can influence macroeconomic development in euro zone. The results of the thesis indicate that foreign shocks explain 70% variability in Czech price level out of which 50% is explained by euro zone's price level shocks. It is likely that in near future Czech economy will experience deflation for a while. Nevertheless, by 2018 Czech inflation rate should be in 1-3% band.

本文主要研究日本央行實施緊縮性貨幣政策時，日本銀行業貸款組合變動與對實質經濟影響之關係，透過比較貨幣性衝擊、單純產出衰退及總和需求衰退對於銀行貸款組合的影響，以分析銀行在貨幣政策所發揮的功能。經VAR模型實證結果顯示，日本國內貨幣緊縮會使短期實質產出衰退、價格上升；銀行對於家計部門消費信用以及購屋貸款的放款減少、對企業的放款則增加。進一步檢驗不同規模企業貸款發現，銀行對大型企業的放款較為寬鬆，而對於中小企業的放款增幅較不明顯。另一方面，考慮信用標準擴散指數的VAR模型分析發現，日本國內的貨幣緊縮政策使銀行對於家計單位信用標準趨於嚴格的程度最大，再來依序為中型企業、小型企業及大型企業。這些實證結果支持銀行信用管道的存在，也說明銀行在貨幣傳遞機制中扮演重要的角色。 / The paper mainly studies the relationship between the change of Japanese bank loan portfolios and its substantial effect on economy during implementation of monetary tightening policy by Japan authority. Through comparison of monetary impacts, as well as the effects of the downturns in both output and real demand on bank loan portfolios, with the downturns are generated in a way that they produce the same dynamic real output and final demand path as that from a monetary downturn. The empirical results of VAR model reveal that the domestic monetary tightening in Japan would cause decrease in short-term real output and price level rise. General banks offer less consumption credits and house loans for households, but turn to increase loans for enterprises. When further examining the loans for enterprises of different scales, the paper finds that the banks take a looser attitude in offering loans to large-scale enterprises than to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), whose loans seem to have insignificant increase. On the other hand, after analysis of VAR model that considers the credit standard diffusion index, it is found that because of the domestic monetary tightening policy of Japan, the banks’ practices in their offer of credits appear to be strictest to households, and then less strict to SMEs and large enterprises. These facts prove the existence of credit channels of banks, and show the important roles that banks take in monetary transmission mechanism.

Après dix ans de monnaie commune, les disparités régionales persistent dans la zone euro et l’activité économique a du mal à se dynamiser. Le dysfonctionnement du système de politique économique figure parmi les explications possibles de ces évolutions. Cette thèse reconsidère la conduite des politiques macroéconomiques dans une Union hétérogène, avec transmission asymétrique des chocs. Trois essais de modélisation sont développés dans ce but. Le premier étudie la politique monétaire dans un modèle à la Barro-Gordon, à l’aide d’un jeu défini entre la banque centrale et les différents agents de l’Union. Le second introduit l’interaction entre politique monétaire et budgétaire dans l’Union, afin d’assurer un environnement stable, favorable à l’activité économique. Il se situe dans un cadre néo-keynésien, modifié pour inclure certains aspects des pratiques monétaires et budgétaires de la zone euro. Enfin, un troisième essai analyse le rôle de ces politiques dans la stabilisation des chocs conjoncturels, à l’aide d’un modèle d’équilibre général dynamique stochastique (DSGE) avec asymétries financières. Les enseignements vont dans une direction commune. Une politique monétaire orientée vers la réduction des divergences nationales serait bénéfique pour l’Union, uniquement si la banque centrale est hostile simultanément aux divergences d’inflation et de revenu. L’intérêt de la banque centrale pour les seules divergences d’inflation peut être contreproductif. Les politiques nationales restent les principaux outils pour réduire les disparités. Leur conduite doit se faire dans un cadre coordonné, qui tient compte des asymétries structurelles dans l’Union. Ce serait compatible avec la conduite autonome des politiques budgétaires, suivant une stratégie commune pour la zone. L’annonce publique des règles budgétaires nationales permettrait d’améliorer la transparence des politiques et d’accroître leur efficacité. / After ten years of using the common currency, national divergences in the euro area are persistent and the economic growth is slower than expected. This manuscript is focusing on the use of inappropriate economic policies as potential reason for such empirical facts. It tries to reconsider the monetary and fiscal policy definition in a heterogeneous monetary union, with asymmetric monetary transmission. Three different models were developed in this work. The first one studies the monetary policy in a Barro-Gordon traditional framework, by using a game among the central bank and the different agents of the Union. The second model appeals to the interaction between monetary and fiscal policies, in order to guarantee stable economic conditions. It proposes a dynamic analysis of an asymmetric monetary Union, in a neo-keynesian framework, modified to take into account an interest rate rule for the monetary policy. The last model analyzes the importance of the previously mentioned policies for stabilizing shocks, using a DSGE model. The overall conclusions suggest that a monetary policy oriented to the reduction of the national divergences would be beneficial for the Union only if the central bank is simultaneously adverse to inflation and output divergences. If the central bank is only concerned by inflation divergences, and disregards the output differentials, the monetary policy could be counterproductive. The national policies are the main means of reducing asymmetries. They should be rigorously conducted, and must take into account the structural asymmetries in the Union. The public announcement of the national fiscal rules could be a solution for increasing the policies’ transparency and for improving their efficiency.

In the literature, a considerable theoretical and empirical works have investigated the credit channel of monetary transmission mechanism. This dissertation extends the Bernanke and Blinder (1988) model to an open-economy setting with flexible exchange rate and perfect capital mobility. By means of the framework, we examine the exchange rate dynamics and the adjustment of real output. It turns out that, with a significant credit channel effect, the exchange rate puzzle may occur in the short run and in long run. Moreover, in contrast to Dornbusch (1976), this dissertation shows that, depending upon the strength of the credit channel effect, overshooting, undershooting and counter-shooting impact effect may occur when international capital mobility is perfect. / In the literature, a considerable theoretical and empirical works have investigated the credit channel of monetary transmission mechanism. This dissertation extends the Bernanke and Blinder (1988) model to an open-economy setting with flexible exchange rate and perfect capital mobility. By means of the framework, we examine the exchange rate dynamics and the adjustment of real output. It turns out that, with a significant credit channel effect, the exchange rate puzzle may occur in the short run and in long run. Moreover, in contrast to Dornbusch (1976), this dissertation shows that, depending upon the strength of the credit channel effect, overshooting, undershooting and counter-shooting impact effect may occur when international capital mobility is perfect.