Applied Macroeconometrics
Carlo A. Favero, Associate
Professor of Economics, Universita Bocconi di Milano
Description
The objective of this book is
the discussion and the practical illustration of techniques used in applied
macroeconometrics. There are currently three competing approaches: the LSE (London School
of Economics) approach, the VAR approach, and the intertemporal optimization/Real Business
Cycle approach. This book discusses and illustrates the empirical research strategy of
these three alternative approaches, pairing them with extensive discussions and
replications of the relevant empirical work. Common benchmarks are used to evaluate the
alternative approaches.
This text provides graduate
students of macroeconomics, econometrics, and monetary economics with discussion and
practical illustrations of the techniques used in applied macroeconometrics. Until the
1970s, there was consensus regarding both the theoretical foundations and the empirical
specification of applied macroeconometric modelling, commonly known as the Cowles
Commission approach. This is no longer the case: the Cowles Commission approach broke down
in the 1970s, to be replaced by a number of prominent competing methods-the LSE (London
School of Economics) approach, the VAR approach, and the intertemporal optimization/Real
Business Cycle approach. Applied Macroeconometrics examines the empirical research
strategy of these alternatives by interpreting them as attempts to solve the problems
observed in the Cowles Commission approach. The different research strategies are
illustrated with specific reference to real-world examples, particularly with respect to
the monetary transmission mechanism. A common US dataset is used in these examples, thus
allowing the reader easy comparisons.
The presentation is based on
the view that identification, a central concept in econometrics, provides a natural
framework in which to discuss the alternative strategies currently dominating research.
The first part of the book introduces time-series models and details the importance of
their identification. The second part illustrates, chapter by chapter, the alternative
approaches, providing detailed applications of each methodology. Data used in the
applications are available in a variety of formats from the author's web site, and will be
supplemented by exercises for the reader to perform.
Carlo A. Favero is Professor
of Economics at Bocconi University in Milan, Resident Fellow of the Innocenzo Gasparini
Institute for Economic Research and Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy
Research.
Readership: Graduate students in econometrics. Professional economists.
282 pages