The US Interest Rate Conundrum and its Implications for Australia. The project generalises existing factor models of interest rates. The project will result in several benefits nationally as well as internationally. As U.S. interest rates and U.S. monetary policy in general are important determinants of interest rates in Australia, the project will lead to an improved understanding of the international mechanism linking interest rates. This will also provide a better framework in which to unders ....The US Interest Rate Conundrum and its Implications for Australia. The project generalises existing factor models of interest rates. The project will result in several benefits nationally as well as internationally. As U.S. interest rates and U.S. monetary policy in general are important determinants of interest rates in Australia, the project will lead to an improved understanding of the international mechanism linking interest rates. This will also provide a better framework in which to understand and monitor monetary policy in Australia. An important aspect of the project is the development of new testing procedures that improve upon existing nonparametric methods.Read moreRead less
Estimating and evaluating the predictive accuracy of structural macroeconomic models. This project will provide improved methods to inform Australia's macroeconomic policies and its strategies for economic development by suggesting the most adequate structural macroeconomic model for the Australian economy. Effective macroeconomic policies, in turn, assure stable economic development, smoothes effects of economic cycles and balances inflation, unemployment, the exchange rate and other macroecono ....Estimating and evaluating the predictive accuracy of structural macroeconomic models. This project will provide improved methods to inform Australia's macroeconomic policies and its strategies for economic development by suggesting the most adequate structural macroeconomic model for the Australian economy. Effective macroeconomic policies, in turn, assure stable economic development, smoothes effects of economic cycles and balances inflation, unemployment, the exchange rate and other macroeconomic indicators. All these indicators are closely linked to the welfare of the Australian people and prosperity of the Australian economy. The importance of an accurate macroeconomic analysis is increased in the current condition of inflationary pressures, fiscal challenges, climate change, and world market instabilities.Read moreRead less
Inventories and the Business Cycle in Australia and the U.S. The project looks at the contribution that inventories make to business cycles in Australia and the U.S. It uses recent research by the chief investigator on measuring business cycles in order to explain how the presence of inventories in an economic system might influence activity in that system. It then adapts an existing model in the literature to quantify the role of inventories in the Australian and U.S business cycles.. It seeks ....Inventories and the Business Cycle in Australia and the U.S. The project looks at the contribution that inventories make to business cycles in Australia and the U.S. It uses recent research by the chief investigator on measuring business cycles in order to explain how the presence of inventories in an economic system might influence activity in that system. It then adapts an existing model in the literature to quantify the role of inventories in the Australian and U.S business cycles.. It seeks to answer a number of questions that have arisen in recent years over whether the business cycle is becoming longer owing to improved methods of inventory controlRead moreRead less
Empirical and Theoretical Coherence of Macroeconometric Models. Variants of the G-Cubed models are used by researchers, governments and international institutions for policy analysis. The need for policy makers to have models with substantial structural detail and a strong theoretical base is paramount for transparency and accountability. The development of simple SVAR models which capture these theoretical underpinnings will provide Australian policy makers with an effective tool for economic a ....Empirical and Theoretical Coherence of Macroeconometric Models. Variants of the G-Cubed models are used by researchers, governments and international institutions for policy analysis. The need for policy makers to have models with substantial structural detail and a strong theoretical base is paramount for transparency and accountability. The development of simple SVAR models which capture these theoretical underpinnings will provide Australian policy makers with an effective tool for economic analysis. It will also provide powerful tools that enable forecasting and detailed policy analysis within the same broad conceptual framework. The emphasis is on international and financial market linkages which encompass key issues facing the Australian economy.Read moreRead less
Modelling the Transmission of International Monetary Policy Shocks: Implications for Australian Asset Markets. Three main outcomes of the project are as follows. First, the relative strengths of the transmission mechanisms linking monetary policy and asset markets will be better identified. This will lead to a better understanding of monetary policy thereby enabling the Reserve Bank to achieve its policy goals of inflation operating at or near the target rate, and for currency markets to exhibit ....Modelling the Transmission of International Monetary Policy Shocks: Implications for Australian Asset Markets. Three main outcomes of the project are as follows. First, the relative strengths of the transmission mechanisms linking monetary policy and asset markets will be better identified. This will lead to a better understanding of monetary policy thereby enabling the Reserve Bank to achieve its policy goals of inflation operating at or near the target rate, and for currency markets to exhibit stability. Second, a number of empirical puzzles relating to monetary policy and asset markets in general, that exist in the empirical literature, will be solved. Third, the project will lead to a number of international papers which will add to the international reputation of Australia as a leading research nation.Read moreRead less
Higher order moment contagion testing: implications of the US subprime mortgage crisis for Australia. Even though crises are usually short lived, the long term implications of changes in asset values may be profound, particularly for superannuation assets. Implications of financial crises are also profound for institutions such as the RBA who change policy to achieve domestic objectives. The understanding of how internationally based financial crises affect Australia is important particularly wh ....Higher order moment contagion testing: implications of the US subprime mortgage crisis for Australia. Even though crises are usually short lived, the long term implications of changes in asset values may be profound, particularly for superannuation assets. Implications of financial crises are also profound for institutions such as the RBA who change policy to achieve domestic objectives. The understanding of how internationally based financial crises affect Australia is important particularly when domestic inflationary pressures would appear to precipitate the need for the RBA to take the opposite policy stance to that prevalent of central banks internationally. This proposal highlights these relationships to provide insights into portfolio allocation decisions and provides information to facilitate well founded decisions by policy makers.Read moreRead less
House Prices in Australia: A Hedonic Analysis. House prices are an important input to monetary policy since they impact directly on inflation and may be a source of speculative bubbles. The Governor of the Reserve Bank, however, recently described housing as the ``weakest link in all the price data.'' This project will attempt to resolve this problem. The resulting indexes should be of considerable interest to the Reserve Bank, the media, home owners, the real estate industry, and enhance the re ....House Prices in Australia: A Hedonic Analysis. House prices are an important input to monetary policy since they impact directly on inflation and may be a source of speculative bubbles. The Governor of the Reserve Bank, however, recently described housing as the ``weakest link in all the price data.'' This project will attempt to resolve this problem. The resulting indexes should be of considerable interest to the Reserve Bank, the media, home owners, the real estate industry, and enhance the reputation of Australian universities. They will also quantify the extent of the burden imposed on young people by rising house prices, and its consequent strain on society.Read moreRead less
New approaches for testing in nonlinear models. The outcome of this project is a new econometric methodology that will be particularly useful for developing our understanding of Australian (and global) financial markets. Specific benefits are that (i) our value-at-risk models will enhance national and international awareness of issues relating to financial risk management; (ii) our exchange rate pass through model will aid the development of Australian trade and pricing policies and (iii) our du ....New approaches for testing in nonlinear models. The outcome of this project is a new econometric methodology that will be particularly useful for developing our understanding of Australian (and global) financial markets. Specific benefits are that (i) our value-at-risk models will enhance national and international awareness of issues relating to financial risk management; (ii) our exchange rate pass through model will aid the development of Australian trade and pricing policies and (iii) our duration models for trade in Australian stocks will lead to a better understanding of the microstructure of the Australian stock market.Read moreRead less