We examine the linear-quadratic (LQ) approximation of non-linear stochastic dynamic optimization problems in macroeconomics, in particular for monetary policy. We make four main contributions: first, we draw attention to a general Hamiltonian framework for LQ approximation due toMagill (1977)....

It is important to understand how companies set prices, since price-setting behaviour plays a key role in the monetary policy transmission mechanism. Many surveys have been conducted in a range of countries to shed light on this issue by asking companies directly about how they set prices. This...

This paper derives alternative measures of the short-run NAIRU (SRN) for the United Kingdom, the rate for unemployment at which inflation will neither increase nor decrease in the short-run. We estimate the NAIRU jointly with price equations by using the Kalman filter. Our work suggests that...

It is important for central banks to understand how companies set prices, since price-setting behaviour plays a key role in the monetary policy transmission mechanism. Surveys of companies have been conducted in a variety of countries to shed light on this issue. Earlier this year the Bank of...

Energy arguably plays a vital role in economic development. Hence many studies have attempted to test for causality between energy and economic growth; however, no consensus has emerged. This paper, therefore, tests for causality between energy and GDP using a consistent data set and methodology...

We examine linear-quadratic (LQ) approximation of stochastic dynamic optimization problems in macroeconomics (and elsewhere), in particular in policy analysis using Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models. We first define the problem that is solved by a social planner, given that...

This paper discusses the practical application of identification in cointegrated systems. It will argue that in a common realistic modelling situation of a limited data set and the theory requirements of a fairly rich model, the techniques proposed in the existing literature are almost...