Solow residuals are used as proxies for productivity shocks in many empirical studies. Considering the shortcomings of this approach this paper proposes the common trends approach as an alternative. The common trends econometric technique is utilized here in an attempt to identify and analyze...

This paper extends the analytical framework provided by Glick and Rogoff (1995. Journal of Monetary Economics 35, 159-192) to an economy with traded and nontraded goods, and it analyzes the impact of country-specific and global productivity shocks on the current account and investment. Each of...

The current account in developed countries is highly persistent and volatile in comparison to output growth. The standard intertemporal current account model with rational expectations (RE) fails to account for the observed current account dynamics together with persistent changes in...

The current account in developed countries is highly persistent and volatile in comparison to their output growth. The standard intertemporal current account model with rational expectations (RE) fails to explain the observed current account and consumption dynamics. The RE model extended with...

A view receiving increased support is that the height of trade costs in prime export sectorshas a strong effect on current account balances: countries specializing in sectors that facerelatively high trade costs, such as services, tend to run current account deficits, andsimilarly, countries...

The study outlines the main challenges when setting up a “current account (CA) model” in order to measure external imbalances. This model is a reduced-form relationship between the CA balance and a set of CA fundamental and policy drivers, from which a CA “norm” may be derived and...

We revisit the so-called "secular international problem", whereby the adjustment of current account imbalances purportedly falls entirely on the shoulders of deficit countries. We introduce a stylised model to rationalise an asymmetric counter-cyclical policy reaction that is stronger for...

This paper reviews three different concepts of equilibrium exchange rates that are widely used in policy analysis and constitute the backbone of the IMF CGER assessment: the Macroeconomic Balance, the External Sustainability and the reduced form approaches. We raise a number of econometric...