Output Fluctuations in Latin America : What Explains the Recent Slowdown?
The authors explain Latin America's growth slowdown in 1998-1999. To do so, they use two complementary methodologies. The first aims at determining how much of the slowdown can be explained by specific external factors: the terms of trade, int...
Main Authors: | , , |
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Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/05/437692/output-fluctuations-latin-america-explains-recent-slowdown http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18841 |
Summary: | The authors explain Latin America's
growth slowdown in 1998-1999. To do so, they use two
complementary methodologies. The first aims at determining
how much of the slowdown can be explained by specific
external factors: the terms of trade, international interest
rates, spreads on external debt, capital flows, and
climatological factors (El Nino). Using quarterly GDP data
for the eight largest countries in the region, the authors
estimate a dynamic panel showing that 50-60 percent of the
slowdown was due to these external factors. The second
approach allows for effects on output by some endogeneous
variables, such as domestic real interest rates, and real
exchange rates. Using monthly industrial performance data,
the authors estimate country-specific generalized vector
auto-regressions (GVAR) for the largest countries. They find
that during the sample period (1992-98) output volatility is
mostly associated with shocks to domestic factors, but the
slowdown in the sub-period 1998-99 is explained more than 60
percent by shocks to the external factors. |
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