We construct, and then estimate by maximum likelihood, a tractable dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with incomplete insurance and heterogenous agents. The key feature of our framework is that cross-sectional heterogeneity remains finite dimensional. The solution to the model thus admits a statespace representation that can be used to recover the distribution of the model's parameters. Household heterogeneity expands the set of observables to crosssectional moments available at the business-cycle frequency (in addition to the Edouard Quantitative Economics 8 (2017) usual macro and monetary time series). Incomplete insurance gives rise to a precautionary motive for holding wealth that propagates aggregate shocks via (i) a stabilizing aggregate supply effect, working through the supply of capital, and (ii) a destabilizing aggregate demand effect coming from the feedback loop between unemployment risk and precautionary saving. Using the estimated model to measure the contribution of precautionary savings to the propagation of recent recessions, we find strong aggregate demand effects during the Great Recession and, to a lesser extent, during the 1990-1991 recession. In contrast, the supply effect at least offsets the demand effect during the 2001 recession.

We study how changes in the value of the steady-state real interest rate affect the optimal inflation target, both in the U.S. and the euro area, using an estimated New Keynesian DSGE model that incorporates the zero (or effective) lower bound on the nominal interest rate. We find that this relation is downward sloping, but its slope is not necessarily one-for-one: increases in the optimal inflation rate are generally lower than declines in the steady-state real interest rate. Our approach allows us not only to assess the uncertainty surrounding the optimal inflation target, but also to determine the latter while taking into account the parameter uncertainty facing the policy maker, including uncertainty with regard to the determinants of the steady-state real interest rate. We find that in the currently empirically relevant region for the US as well as the euro area, the slope of the curve is close to-0.9. That finding is robust to allowing for parameter uncertainty.

This paper examines issues related to the estimation of the government spending multiplier (GSM) in a DSGE context. We stress a source of bias in the GSM arising from the combination of endogenous government expenditures and Edgeworth complementarity between private consumption and government expenditures. Due to cross-equation restrictions, omitting the endogenous component of government policy at the estimation stage would lead an econometrician to underestimate the degree of Edgeworth complementarity and, consequently, the long-run GSM. An estimated version of our model with US postwar data shows that this bias matters quantitatively. The results are robust to a number of perturbations. (JEL E13, E23, E32, E62, H50)

In this paper, we propose a simple econometric framework to disentangle the respective roles of monetary policy inertia and persistent shocks in interest rate rules. We exploit the restrictions of a DSGE model that is confronted with a monetary SVAR. We show that, provided enough informative variables are included in the formal test, the data favor a monetary policy representation with modest inertia and highly serially correlated monetary shocks. To the contrary, when the procedure is based solely on the dynamic behavior of the nominal interest rate, no clear-cut conclusion can be reached about the correct representation of monetary policy.

Nous proposons d'étudier les co-mouvements entre indices boursiers et activité réelle au cours du cycle économique en France, en Allemagne, en Italie, au Royaume-Uni et aux Etats-Unis au moyen de deux approches complémentaires. En premier lieu, nous identiÞons les points de retournement des indicateurs d'activité réelle et des indices boursiers et déterminons dans quelle mesure ces séries concordent. En second lieu, nous proposons de calculer les corrélations entre les composantes cycliques des indicateurs d'activité réelle et des excès de rentabilité, d'un côté et les corrélations entre les composantes permanentes des mêmes indicateurs, de l'autre.Mots-clés : rendements des actions, co-mouvements, points de retournement, analyse spectrale.

This paper examines issues related to the estimation of the government spending multiplier (GSM) in a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium context. We stress a potential source of bias in the GSM arising from the combination of Edgeworth complementarity/substitutability between private consumption and government expenditures and endogenous government expenditures. Due to crossequation restrictions, omitting the endogenous component of government policy at the estimation stage would lead an econometrician to underestimate the degree of Edgeworth complementarity and, consequently, the long-run GSM. An estimated version of our model with US postwar data shows that this bias matters quantitatively. The results prove to be robust to a number of perturbations.

No abstract

In response to the 2008-2009 crisis, faced with distressed financial intermediaries, the European Central Bank (ECB) embarked in longer term refinancing operations (LTROs) with full allotment. Using an estimated DSGE model with a frictional banking sector, we find that such liquidity injections have played a key role in averting a major credit crunch. A counterfactual analysis suggests that, absent these nonconventional measures, output, consumption, investment, and the GDP deflator would have been 2.5%, 0.5%, 9.7%, and 0.5% lower on average over 2009, respectively.JEL codes: E32, E58