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1990 | Book

Hysteresis Effects in Economic Models

Editor: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Franz

Publisher: Physica-Verlag HD

Book Series : Studies in Empirical Economics

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About this book

This volume is devoted to the hysteresis phenomenon in economic relationships. This topic has received renewed attention in economics especially in the late eigh­ ties. Since the issue is not settled there is still a growing literature on it. The aim of this volume is to summarize the findings, present new results, and to draw attention to further research. All papers are written for this volume and are not published elsewhere. I am very grateful to all authors and referees without whose prompt and generous help this volume would not appear in the present form. A short summary of each paper is given in section 5 of the overview paper. Konstanz, January 1990 Wolfgang Franz University of Konstanz Contents Hysteresis in Economic Relationships: An Overview W. Franz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Hysteresis in Trade R. Baldwin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Some Evidence on the Membership Hysteresis Hypothesis in Europe M. C. Burda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Insider-Outsider Influences on Industry Wages D. T. Coe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Testing for Hysteresis in Unemployment An Unobserved Components Approach A. Jaeger and M. Parkinson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Unemployment and Deterioration of Human Capital J. Moller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Hysteresis, Nairn and Long Term Unemployment in Austria P. Neudorfer, K. Pichelmann and M. Wagner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Hysteresis in Economic Relationships: An Overview l By W. Franz Can the socialist man be created so as not to show any hysteresis trace of his bourgois or peasant past? N. Georgescu-Roegen (l971. p. 126) 1 Introduction The hysteresis phenomenon has received renewed attention in economic science.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Hysteresis in Economic Relationships: An Overview
Abstract
The hysteresis phenomenon has received renewed attention in economic science. While most of the theoretical work on hysteresis has been done within the context of an explanation of the persistence of European unemployment, there are other studies which investigate to what extent hysteresis is present in international trade, consumption, labor migration and the like. As it is often the case with “new ideas”, the origin of the hysteresis debate can be traced back at least some twenty years. The aim of this short paper is to acquaint very briefly the reader with the concept of hysteresis and to present an overview of the papers included in this special issue. Nothing new is offered in this skeleton overview, nor is it intended to give a full and detailed survey about all aspects.
Wolfgang Franz
Hysteresis in Trade
Abstract
The paper presents a model of hysteresis in trade which is based on the existence of sunk market-entry costs. The study concentrates on the aspect of two models. In both models an exchange rate overvaluation leads to additional entry by foreign firms. The models differ in their accounts of why the foreign firms do not exit after the exchange rate shock passes.
Richard Baldwin
Some Evidence on the Membership Hysteresis Hypothesis in Europe
Abstract
In a democratic model of union wage-setting, monopoly unions can induce hysteresis in the behavior of employment, at least locally. As a result, autoregressive representations of employment and membership should contain a unit root even if the determinants of labor demand are stationary. In addition, the model predicts that employment should Granger-cause consumption wages. These implications are tested with data from several European countries. Although there is little conclusive evidence that employment hysteresis constitutes the key difference between the European and US experiences, trade union membership data from the Federal Republic of Germany provides strong support for the membership hysteresis hypothesis in this country.
Michael C. Burda
Insider-Outsider Influences on Industry Wages
Evidence from Fourteen Industrialized Countries
Abstract
The persistence of high rates of unemployment in Europe has focused renewed attention on the wage determination process. One aspect which has received particular attention recently is the extent to which wages are determined by insiders, with outsiders having little impact on the wage bargain. If outsiders are disenfranchised in the wage determination process, they may be unable to underbid themselves into employment. The insider-outsider model, and the associated implication of hysteresis, thus provides a possible explanation for persistent involuntary unemployment.
Most empirical work on the importance of the insider-outsider model and hysteresis has been done at the aggregate level, either by testing whether wage growth is related to the level or the change in unemployment, or by testing if employment or unemployment follows a random walk. This paper extends both of these lines of analysis to the industry level. Based on a specification which nests alternative models of the wage determination process, estimation results are presented for fifteen industries using annual data for fourteen industrialized countries, and for pooled time-series cross-country data. The paper also tests the hypothesis that only industry-specific variables are important to the determination of industry wages and considers whether differences in industry wage determination might help to understand cross-country differences in unemployment. The results offer considerable support to the insider view of wage determination. Industries in which wages seem to be determined by a natural rate/Phillips curve model — the primary competing model considered in the paper — appear to be the exception rather than the rule. Moreover, at the industry level hysteresis does not appear to characterise wage formation in the high-unemployment European countries to a greater extent than in North America and Japan.
David T. Coe
Testing for Hysteresis in Unemployment An Unobserved Components Approach
Abstract
We suggest a new test for hysteresis in unemployment based on an unobserved components model. Observed unemployment rates are decomposed into a natural rate component and a cyclical component. The impact of lagged cyclical shocks on the current natural component is the measure of hysteresis. To identify the two components of unemployment, we assume that the cyclical compoentn is correlated with capacity utilization. The model is applied to U.S. and German data. We find no evidence of hysteresis in U.S. data. German unemployment rates exhibit substantial hysteresis. A shock of 1.0 percent to the current cyclical component permanently increases future German natural rates by about 0.5 percent. For both countries, natural rate shocks turn out to be an important impulse mechanism to explain movements in observed unemployment rates.
Albert Jaeger, Martin Parkinson
Unemployment and Deterioration of Human Capital
A Labour Market Model with Hysteresis Implications
Abstract
The paper deals with the deterioration of human capital during spells of unemployment. In our model the probability of leaving the unemployment pool decreases with the duration of unemployment. It can be shown that with a linear deterioration function and a simple distribution function for the reservation productivity of firms, unemployment duration is suitably described by a distribution of the Gompertz-Makeham type. In a numerical simulation it could be demonstrated that deterioration of human capital during unemployment affects the relation between vacancies and unemployment in a specific way: in the case of labour market slackness the steady-state Beveridge curve bends away markedly from the standard u-v-curve in an outward direction while in a situation of almost full employment the effects are negligible. For higher deterioration parameters the Beveridge curve may even be upward sloping in a situation of excess supply on the labour market, implying the existence of multiple equilibria. Empirical estimation of the distribution function with German labour market data 1984–1987 reveals that the multiple equilibrium case is likely to be relevant in reality.
Joachim Möller
Hysteresis, Nairu and Long Term Unemployment in Austria
Abstract
The paper analyzes hysteresis or persistence effects in Austrian unemployment using formal unit root tests and a simple macroeconometric model of wage-price formation. The empirical results point towards a considerable amount of persistence in unemployment generated by the rising share of long-term unemployed that has been associated with the increase in overall unemployment in Austria.
Peter Neudorfer, K. Pichelmann, Michael Wagner
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Hysteresis Effects in Economic Models
Editor
Professor Dr. Wolfgang Franz
Copyright Year
1990
Publisher
Physica-Verlag HD
Electronic ISBN
978-3-642-51543-9
Print ISBN
978-3-642-51545-3
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-51543-9