Are They All in the Same Boat? The 2000-2001 Growth Slowdown and the G-7 Business Cycle Linkages
42 Pages Posted: 29 Jan 2006
Date Written: March 2003
Abstract
This paper reviews the international business cycle among Group of Seven (G-7) countries since 1973 from two angles. An examination of business cycle synchronization among these countries using simple descriptive statistics shows that synchronized slowdowns have been the norm rather than the exception and that the slowdown in 2000-2001 largely followed patterns seen in the past. The paper also identifies the international business cycle with an asymptotic dynamic factor model. Two global factors explain roughly 80 percent of the variance in G-7 output gaps at business cycle frequencies. The factor model decomposes the "common part" of national output fluctuations into two factors, one capturing the average G-7 cycle and one that corrects for phase and amplitude differences. We also found some evidence supporting the hypothesis that global shocks were the main force behind the slowdown in 2000-2001.
Keywords: Business Cycles, International Business Cycles, Dynamic Factor Models
JEL Classification: C57, E32, F41, F47
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Paper statistics
Recommended Papers
-
Shocking Aspects of European Monetary Unification
By Tamim Bayoumi and Barry Eichengreen
-
International Business Cycles: World, Region, and Country-Specific Factors
By M. Ayhan Kose, Chris Otrok, ...
-
Understanding Changes in International Business Cycle Dynamics
By James H. Stock and Mark W. Watson
-
Trade, Finance, Specialization and Synchronization
By Jean M. Imbs
-
Trade, Finance, Specialization and Synchronization
By Jean M. Imbs
-
Trade, Finance, Specialization, and Synchronization
By Jean M. Imbs
-
Risk Sharing and Industrial Specialization: Regional and International Evidence
By Bent E. Sørensen, Sebnem Kalemli-ozcan, ...
-
Sectoral and National Aggregate Disturbances to Industrial Output in Seven European Countries