Suchergebnisse

Examines the causality issue, in a Granger‐temporal causal sense, between price level and productivity in a bivariate and multivariate context in Greece over the period 1962‐1997. The empirical analysis employs various time‐series techniques such as unit‐root testing, bivariate and multivariate cointegration and procedures in vector error‐correction modeling (VECM). The empirical results suggest that a bivariate relationship between inflation and productivity is spurious, as the unit root pre‐tests that account for oil shock episodes show that inflation and productivity are integrated of a different order. When we control for fluctuations of overall economic activity and monetary policy on the bivariate relationship between price level and productivity, the evidence suggests that Granger‐causation must exist in at least one direction. VECM estimation showed that productivity growth and inflation are an econometrically endogenous variable and this suggests that bi‐directional causality from inflation to productivity growth and vice versa exists.

Using a sample of 20 OECD countries from 1970 to 2013 and accounting for cross‐sectional and temporal dependence in the regressions' disturbances, the paper examines the combined influence of labour market institutions, fiscal imbalances and credit constraints on unemployment. We demonstrate that unemployment exhibits high persistence. It is also closely associated with business cycle fluctuations, albeit mostly in economies under adjustment programmes (Spain, Ireland, Italy and Portugal). Evidence on the association between labour and product market institutions and unemployment remains inconclusive. The effect of large fiscal consolidation episodes on unemployment is consistently positive and significant, especially during the crisis period (2008–13) and in countries with strict employment protection regulation. High growth rates of GDP that reflect economic activity rebound, may partly neutralize the positive and significant impact of fiscal consolidation on unemployment.