This paper examines the relationship between US crude oil and stock market prices, using a Markov-Switching vector error-correction model and a monthly data set from 1859 to 2013. The sample covers the entire modern era of the petroleum industry, which typically begins with the first drilled oil...

We compare the forecasting performances of the classical and the Minnesota-type Bayesian vector autoregressive (VAR) models with those of linear (fixed-parameter) and nonlinear (time-varying parameter) VARs involving a stochastic search algorithm for variable selection, estimated using Markov...

In this paper we investigate the likelihood of a proposed monetary union in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) being successful from the viewpoint of the Generalised Purchasing Power Parity (GPPP) hypothesis and optimum currency area (OCA) theory. We apply Johansen’s...

The conduct of inflation targeting is heavily dependent on accurate inflation forecasts. Non-linear models have increasingly featured, along with linear counterparts, in the forecasting literature. In this study, we focus on forecasting South African infl ation by means of non-linear models and...

This study investigates the asymmetric and time-varying causality between inflation and inflation uncertainty in South Africa within a conditional Gaussian Markov switching vector autoregressive (MS-VAR) model framework. The MS-VAR model is capable of determining both the sign and direction of...

The relationship between oil and the price level has always garnered attention from policy makers and role players in the market. Periods of high oil price volatility is thought to have negative repercussions for domestic price levels in an oil importing country. Research in the past has shown...

The oil price-inflation relationship has been at the center of attention among economists and policy makers, especially after 1970’s oil shocks that resulted to a significant increase in the inflation rate in number of countries around the world. In this study, we aim to investigate the...

The association between oil prices and inflation has remained an intriguing issue for media, academic as well as policy enquiry. Against this backdrop, we perform the frequency-domain causality test to investigate whether the growth rate of oil prices has predictive content for inflation in...

Two recent studies have found markedly different measures of the welfare cost of inflation in South Africa, obtained through the estimation of long-run money demand relationships using cointegration and long-horizon approaches. Realizing that the monetary aggregate and the interest rate...

This paper investigates the long-run impact of inflation on homeowner equity in South Africa by analysing the relationship between house prices and the prices of non-housing goods and services. Quarterly data series are collected for the luxury, large middle-segment, medium middle-segment, small...