Can solar activity influence the occurrence of economic recessions?

Mikhail Gorbanev

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper revisits evidence of solar activity influence on the economy. We examine whether economic recessions occur more often in the years around and after solar maximums. This research strand dates back to late XIX century writings of famous British economist William Stanley Jevons, who claimed that “commercial crises” occur with periodicity matching solar cycle length. Quite surprisingly, our results suggest that the hypothesis linking solar maximums and recessions is well anchored in data and cannot be easily rejected.

Keywords: business cycle; recession; solar cycle; unemployment; sunspot (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E32 F44 Q51 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Journal of Scientific Exploration Vol. 29.No. 2(2015): pp. 235-264

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:65502

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