We investigate the effects of government spending on U.S. output with a threshold structural vector autoregressive model. We consider Bayesian model comparison and generalized impulse response analysis to test for nonlinearities in the responses of output to government spending. Our empirical findings support state-dependent effects of fiscal policy, with the government spending multiplier larger and more persistent whenever there is considerable economic slack. Based on capacity utilization as the preferred threshold variable, the estimated multiplier is large (1.6) for a low-utilization regime that accounts for more than half of the sample observations from 1967-2012 according to the estimated threshold level.
Using the post-WWII data of U.S. federal corporate income tax changes, within a Smooth Transition VAR, this paper finds that the output effect of capital income tax cuts is government debt-dependent: it is less expansionary when debt is high than when it is low. To explore the mechanisms that can drive this fiscal state-dependent tax effect, the paper uses a DSGE model with regime-switching fiscal policy and finds that a capital income tax cut is stimulative to the extent that it is unlikely to result in a future fiscal adjustment. As government debt increases to a sufficiently high level, the probability of future fiscal adjustments starts rising, and the expansionary effects of a capital income tax cut can diminish substantially, whether the expected adjustments are through a policy reversal or a consumption tax increase. Also, a capital income tax cut need not always have large revenue feedback effects as suggested in the literature.
This dissertation analyzes the effects of monetary policy and fiscal policy from a state-dependent perspective. The first chapter is on the dynamic effect of monetary policy on asset price. Employing a two-state threshold local projection method, we find that when the Fed increases the Federal Funds rate, the stock price decreases in normal times, but increases during bubbly episodes. We allow time-varying risk premium and show that this result is driven by both the asymmetric effects on fundamentals and the existence of bubbles. Moreover, the paper captures the effect of an exogenous tightening monetary shock on stock prices as an increasing function of the size of bubbles, using a flexible semiparametric varying-coefficient model specification. The state-dependent evidence is more informative in measuring monetary policy effects than linear or time-varying methods, and is also robust to different identification schemes and various definitions of bubbles. This paper points out two important transmission channels of monetary policy on asset price: risk premium and asset bubbles, which are often ignored in theoretical models. On the policy side, our empirical analysis suggests that central banks should be cautious about adopting "leaning against bubble" monetary policies when the bubble size is relatively large. Another contribution is that we propose a novel empirical framework to study generalized state-dependent impulse response functions, a methodology which should have many applications in macroeconomics. The second chapter uses more than one hundred years of US historical data to examine the fiscal multiplier and how it may differ during different economic conditions. Using the flexible semiparametric varying coefficient method in the framework of local projections, we directly model the fiscal multiplier as a function of various state variables. The paper shows that the U.S. fiscal multiplier is slightly below one and approximately the same, during periods of slack as compared to normal times. Our results suggest that fiscal policy was not necessarily a more powerful tool to stimulate aggregate demand during the "Great Recession". The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/155721
This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the effectiveness of fiscal policy. The focus is on the size of fiscal multipliers, and on the possibility that multipliers can turn negative (i.e., that fiscal contractions can be expansionary). The paper concludes that fiscal multipliers are overwhelmingly positive but small. However, there is some evidence of negative fiscal multipliers.
The recent recession has brought fiscal policy back to the forefront, with economists and policy makers struggling to reach a consensus on highly political issues like tax rates and government spending. At the heart of the debate are fiscal multipliers, whose size and sensitivity determine the power of such policies to influence economic growth. Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis focuses on the effects of fiscal stimuli and increased government spending, with contributions that consider the measurement of the multiplier effect and its size. In the face of uncertainty over the sustainability of recent economic policies, further contributions to this volume discuss the merits of alternate means of debt reduction through decreased government spending or increased taxes. A final section examines how the short-term political forces driving fiscal policy might be balanced with aspects of the long-term planning governing monetary policy. A direct intervention in timely debates, Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis offers invaluable insights about various responses to the recent financial crisis.
We study the incidence and severity of periods with a binding effective lower bound on nominal interest rates and the efficacy of three types of state-dependent policies-forward guidance about the path of future interest rates, large-scale asset purchases and spending based fiscal stimulus-in mitigating the detrimental consequences of the lower bound. Based on the ECB's New Area-Wide Model of the euro area, our findings suggest that, if unaddressed, the lower bound can cause substantial macroeconomic distortions. In the near term, forward guidance, if fully credible, is most powerful and can largely undo the distortions due to the lower bound. A combination of imperfectly credible forward guidance, asset purchases and fiscal stimulus is almost equally effective, especially when asset purchases enhance the credibility of the forward-guidance policy via a signalling effect. In the long run, with an equilibrium real rate as low as zero, a combination of all three policies is needed to materially reduce the distortions.
This paper studies the state-dependent effects of monetary policy shocks. It shows that a canonical sticky-price model with real rigidity in the form of firm-specific factors can generate substantial state-dependence in the effects of monetary policy shocks. Factor specificity introduces a concave relationship between desired reset prices and aggregate demand conditions. The latter implies procyclical output responses to monetary policy shocks. This model feature is supported by empirical evidence from a smooth transition local projection model.
This paper explores how fiscal policy can affect medium- to long-term growth. It identifies the main channels through which fiscal policy can influence growth and distills practical lessons for policymakers. The particular mix of policy measures, however, will depend on country-specific conditions, capacities, and preferences. The paper draws on the Fund’s extensive technical assistance on fiscal reforms as well as several analytical studies, including a novel approach for country studies, a statistical analysis of growth accelerations following fiscal reforms, and simulations of an endogenous growth model.
