|
|
Working Paper Series in Economics
| All 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 |
-
No. 2004-7
(Download at EconPapers)
(published)
- Hannes Kaadu and Lenno Uuskula
- Liquidity Constrains and Ricardian Equivalence in Estonia
This paper aims to find evidence of the influence of government deficit on private consumption in Estonia. The data only shows some support for Ricardian equivalence. Two approaches were used in the empirical tests. The Haque and Montiel (1989) equation of consumption was estimated using an instrumental variables technique. The Aschauer (1985) system of equations was estimated with the full information maximum likelihood method. Formal tests based on macro data could neither reject nor confirm the existence of liquidity constraints or Ricardian equivalence. There remains a lot of room for testing both of these hypotheses in Estonia. Further efforts to test liquidity constraints should concentrate on using micro data.
- JEL-Codes: E21, E62, H62
- Keywords: Ricardian equivalence, liquidity constraints, Estonia
-
No. 2004-6
(Download at EconPapers)
(published)
- Reimo Juks
- The importance of the bank-lending channel in Estonia: evidence from micro-economic data
The paper studies the importance of the bank-lending channel in Estonia. The results from the descriptive evidence suggest that there is a significant share of bank dependent borrowers in Estonia, but the impact of a monetary policy shock on the loan supply of banks seems to be ambiguous. The empirical analysis provides evidence in favour of the bank-lending channel in Estonia. First, well-capitalized banks seem to experience a smaller outflow of deposits after a monetary contraction. Second, the liquidity position of banks seems to be an important determinant of the loan supply suggesting that more liquid banks are able to maintain their loan portfolios, while less liquid banks must reduce their loan supply after a monetary policy contraction. This finding is consistent with the evidence for the euro area, where liquidity is also the most important determinant of the loan supply.
- JEL-Codes: E52; G21; G32; C33
- Keywords: bank lending channel; monetary policy transmission
-
No. 2004-5
(Download at EconPapers)
(published)
- Marit Hinnosaar
- Estonian labor market institutions within a general equilibrium framework
The implications of the Estonian labor market policy reforms, such as changes to the minimum wage, social benefits and tax allowance, will be analysed using a simple applied general equilibrium model. The model used in the paper is from Bovenberg et al (2000), with the addition of an efficiency wage section based on Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984). The model integrates union bargaining and efficiency wage theory into a traditional CGE model framework.
- JEL-Codes: D58; E62; J32; J50
- Keywords: computable general equilibrium models, unemployment, lowskilled labor, minimum wage, benefits, tax allowance
-
No. 2004-3
(Download at EconPapers)
(published)
- Märten Kress
- Lending cycles in Estonia
The objective of this paper is to examine possible cyclical patterns in the lending behavior of Estonian commercial banks. Furthermore, the degree of cycle synchronization between the business cycle and the credit cycle and how much one cycle is behind the other in the case of Estonia is of particular interest. The paper uses data from between January 1994 and February 2004 to identify the Estonian business and credit cycles and compare their features. A Markov regime-switching technique was used in dating both business and credit cycles. Variables of interest in terms of the credit cycle include the total amount of loans provided by commercial banks, household loans, corporate loans, and the share of overdue loans in the total portfolio. Both, monthly and quarterly data was utilized to double-check the results and the business cycle was dated using the Industrial Production Index (IPI) and GDP, respectively. The share of overdue loans in the total portfolio appeared to be counter-cyclical as expected. Changes in the IPI seemed to cause changes in corporate loans with a two-quarter lag on average. Asymmetries between the credit and business cycles were found for Estonia. That is, it takes approximately five months from the beginning of an economic slowdown before corporate loans move into a contraction regime. However, it takes approximately eight months for corporate loans to recover their expansionary growth rate. Changes in household loans seemed to precede changes in economic activity by approximately one quarter.
-
No. 2004-1
(Download at EconPapers)
(published)
- Tairi Room
- Search Intensity and Wage Differences
Differences in job search behaviour have long been recognized in theoretical literature as a potential source of wage differentials. The aim of the current paper is to estimate whether there exists a systematic difference in search activity between genders and whether this can explain a part of the gender wage gap. These hypotheses are tested using micro-level data for the years 1998-2000 from the Estonian Labour Force Survey. The empirical model yields a result that unemployed men search more actively for new jobs than women. Controlling for the difference in search intensity significantly reduces the residual gender wage differential.
-
No. 2004-04
(Download at EconPapers)
(published)
- Rasmus Kattai and John Lewis
- Hooverism, hyperstabilisation or halfway-house? describing fiscal policy in Estonia 1996-2003
This paper develops a simple framework for describing fiscal policy where policymakers attempt to minimise deviations in output and budget balance from target values. Optimal policy is given by minimising a quadratic loss function subject to a linear structure of the economy. This policy can be viewed as weighted average of two polar cases - the case where the budget deficit adjusts to eliminate any deviations from potential output (hyperstabilisation), and the case where taxes and spending are determined exclusively by some budgetary goal (hooverism). We find some evidence of stabilisation for Poland, Latvia and Estonia. There is no evidence for the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, suggesting that fiscal policy was being used for other objectives. The best fit is for Estonia, suggesting that a strict fiscal policy environment may not be incompatible with stabilising fiscal policy.
- JEL-Codes: E61; E62
- Keywords: Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Policy Rules, New EU Member States
|
|
|