Suchergebnisse

The European debt crisis has revealed serious deficiencies and risks on a proper functioning of the monetary union. Against this backdrop, early warning systems are of crucial importance. In this study that focuses on euro area member states, the robustness of early warning systems to predict crises of government debt is evaluated. Robustness is captured via several dimensions, such as the chronology of past crises, econometric methods, and the selection of indicators in forecast combinations. The chosen approach is shown to be crucial for the results. Therefore, the construction of early warning systems should be based on a wide set of variables and methods in order to be able to draw reliable conclusions.

China's government is promoting the shift towards a consumption-based economy since a few years. The explicit goal to significantly raise the percentage of wages in the national household income is integral part of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15). The changes in the economic strategy are likely to affect the attractiveness of the country to foreign investors. In this paper, we raise the hypothesis that soaring wages negatively affect FDI inflows to China and alter the distribution of FDI over Chinese provinces. In addition, low-wage countries in the geographical surrounding might benefit from the changed direction of FDI inflows. By performing panel models with spatial effects for both Chinese provinces and developing ASEAN countries, regional dependencies are explicitly addressed. We provide strong and robust evidence that the wage increases change the distribution of FDI within China. In addition, we show that the changes in China's economic strategy improve the chances of its low-income neighbours to attract FDI.

China's government is promoting the shift towards a consumption-based economy since a few years. The explicit goal to significantly raise the percentage of wages in the national household income is integral part of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15). The changes in the economic strategy are likely to affect the attractiveness of the country to foreign investors. In this paper, we raise the hypothesis that soaring wages negatively affect FDI inflows to China and alter the distribution of FDI over Chinese provinces. In addition, low-wage countries in the geographical surrounding might benefit from the changed direction of FDI inflows. By performing panel models with spatial effects for both Chinese provinces and developing ASEAN countries, regional dependencies are explicitly addressed. We provide strong and robust evidence that the wage increases change the distribution of FDI within China. In addition, we show that the changes in China's economic strategy improve the chances of its low-income neighbours to attract FDI.

The Russian economy is tightly woven into the global economy, and is therefore highly dependent on the development of exchange rates. Since 2014, the ruble has fallen by more than 50 percent against the US dollar. The devaluation goes hand in hand with the Western sanctions that were imposed due to the political tensions between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, the decline in oil prices may also have contributed to the ruble's depreciation. The study at hand examines the relative importance of the different factors influencing the ruble's exchange rate. It turns out that the devaluation is mostly due to the falling oil prices, while the sanctions are playing a rather subordinate role.

Die russische Wirtschaft ist stark international verflochten und deshalb in hohem Grad von der Entwicklung der Wechselkurse abhängig. Seit 2014 verlor der Rubel mehr als 50 Prozent gegenüber dem Dollar. Die Abwertung der Währung geht einher mit den westlichen Sanktionen, die auf die Spannungen zwischen Russland und der Ukraine zurückzuführen sind. Allerdings könnte auch der Rückgang der Ölpreise zum Wertverlust beigetragen haben. Im Folgenden untersuchen wir die relative Bedeutung der Faktoren, die den Kurs des Rubels bestimmen. Es zeigt sich, dass die Abwertung zum großen Teil mit den fallenden Ölpreisen erklärt werden kann. Dagegen spielen die Sanktionen eine untergeordnete Rolle. ; The Russian economy is tightly woven into the global economy, and is therefore highly dependent on the development of exchange rates. Since 2014, the ruble has fallen by more than 50 percent against the US dollar. The devaluation goes hand in hand with the Western sanctions that were imposed due to the political tensions between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, the decline in oil prices may also have contributed to the ruble's depreciation. The study at hand examines the relative importance of the different factors influencing the ruble's exchange rate. It turns out that the devaluation is mostly due to the falling oil prices, while the sanctions are playing a rather subordinate role.