Macroeconomic Implications of Oil Price Fluctuations: A Regime-Switching Framework for the Euro Area

Fédéric Holm-Hadulla and Kirstin Hubrich ()

No 2017-063, Finance and Economics Discussion Series from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)

Abstract: We investigate whether the response of the macro-economy to oil price shocks undergoes episodic changes. Employing a regime-switching vector autoregressive model we identify two regimes that are characterized by qualitatively different patterns in economic activity and inflation following oil price shocks in the euro area. In the 'normal regime', oil price shocks trigger only limited and short-lived adjustments in these variables. In the 'adverse regime', by contrast, oil price shocks are followed by sizeable and sustained macroeconomic fluctuations, with inflation and economic activity moving in the same direction as the oil price. The responses of inflation expectations and wage growth point to second-round effects as a potential driver of the dynamics characterizing the adverse regime. The systematic response of monetary policy works against such second-round effects in the 'adverse regime' but is insufficient to fully offset them. The model also delivers (conditional) probabilities for being (staying) in either regime, which may help interpret oil price fluctuations -- and inform deliberations on the adequate policy response -- in real-time.

Keywords: Regime Switching models; Inflation; Inflation expectations; Oil prices; Time-varying transition probabilities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C32 E31 E52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2017-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-ene, nep-mac and nep-opm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Working Paper: Macroeconomic implications of oil price fluctuations: a regime-switching framework for the euro area (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2017-63

DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2017.063

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