Politically Connected Firms in Poland and Their Access to Bank Financing
Iftekhar Hasan, Krzysztof Jackowicz, Oskar Kowalewski, Łukasz Kozłowski
Communist and Post-Communist Studies,
No. 4,
2017
Abstract
This paper characterizes politically connected firms and their access to bank financing. We determine that the relationship between political connections and access to long-term bank loans is weaker in Poland than in other emerging economies. The most probable explanation for this result is related to the instability of the political climate in Poland. We find that only certain kinds of political connections, such as recent connections, positively influenced access to bank financing during the sample period from 2001 to 2011. Moreover, we obtain also some evidence that the value of political connections increased during the 2007 crisis period and onward.
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Economic Growth: The Past, the Present, and the Future
Ufuk Akcigit
Journal of Political Economy,
No. 6,
2017
Abstract
“Is there some action a government of India could take that would lead the Indian economy to grow like Indonesia’s or Egypt’s? If so, what, exactly? If not, what is it about the ‘nature of India’ that makes it so? The consequences for human welfare involved in questions like these are simply staggering: Once one starts to think about them, it is hard to think about anything else. (Lucas 1988, 5)”
These words by the Nobel laureate Chicago economist Robert Lucas Jr. summarize why so many great scholars found it hard to “think about anything else” and spent their careers trying to understand the process of economic growth. Economies are complex systems resulting from the actions of many actors. This complexity makes it challenging, but also infinitely interesting, to understand the determinants of economic growth. What are the roles of human capital, fertility, ideas, basic science, and public policy for growth? These are just some of the important questions that were posed by many highly influential studies featured in the issues of the Journal of Political Economy over the years. Indeed, this journal has been the platform to diffuse many of the brilliant ideas and start important debates in the field of economic growth. In this short paper, my goal is to revisit some of those seminal papers, briefly describe some of the more recent contributions, and end with some thoughts about the future direction of the field. The reader should note in advance that the list of work covered here is by no means exhaustive and mostly targets work that has been featured in issues of the JPE.
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Konjunktur. Relevanz von Unternehmensumfragen für Diagnose und Analyse
Thomas Brockmeier, Udo Ludwig
T. Brockmeier und U. Ludwig (Hrsg.), Konjunktur. Relevanz von Unternehmensumfragen für Diagnose und Analyse. Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale),
2017
Abstract
„Geh’n Sie mit der Konjunktur!“, so lautete der Refrain eines Gassenhauers aus den sogenannten Wirtschaftswunder-Zeiten der noch jungen Bundesrepublik. Doch hat die Konjunktur noch Konjunktur? Ist Konjunkturpolitik (noch) sinnvoll, ist sie überhaupt relevant? Wenn nein, warum nicht? Wenn ja, unter welchen Voraussetzungen? Welche Bedeutung haben Konjunkturumfragen für eine zuverlässige und zugleich rasche Beurteilung der aktuellen wirtschaftlichen (i. e. „konjunkturellen“) Lage? Haben solche Umfragen, wie sie beispielsweise das Münchner ifo Institut, aber auch die Industrie- und Handelskammern durchführen, Bedeutung für Wissenschaft und Forschung oder auch für die praktische Wirtschaftspolitik? Wie steht es um das Verhältnis zwischen Konjunktur und Wachstum? Wie wichtig ist die Saisonbereinigung? Was genau verbirgt sich eigentlich hinter der „Geschäftslage“? Diese und ähnliche Fragen wurden auf einer Fachtagung diskutiert, zu der die Industrie- und Handelskammer Halle-Dessau im April 2016 renommierte Konjunkturforscher eingeladen hatte. Anlass war die Veröffentlichung ihres 100. Konjunkturberichts. Zu den Referenten zählten Klaus Abberger (Konjunkturforschungsstelle / KOF der ETH Zürich), Roland Döhrn (RWI – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Essen) und Udo Ludwig (ehem. IWH – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle). Der vorliegende Sammelband bringt die Referate und Diskussionsbeiträge zusammen, ergänzt um Literaturhinweise und Hintergrundinformationen. Deutlich wird: Konjunkturumfragen leisten wichtige Beiträge für Politik, Wissenschaft und selbst für Unternehmen: Aus den rasch vorliegenden Ergebnissen solcher Umfragen lassen sich Schlüsse für eine recht zuverlässige Beurteilung der aktuellen wirtschaftlichen Situation wie auch für eine „bessere“ Wirtschaftspolitik ziehen. Aber auch die Grenzen hinsichtlich Methodik und Reichweite von Unternehmensumfragen werden thematisiert. Das Buch liefert eine wertvolle Bestandsaufnahme – nicht nur für Experten, sondern auch und insbesondere für ökonomisch interessierte Laien.
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Business Surveys By the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Halle-Dessau and the Economic Development in the Region
Udo Ludwig
T. Brockmeier und U. Ludwig (Hrsg.), Konjunktur. Relevanz von Unternehmensumfragen für Diagnose und Analyse. Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale),
2017
Abstract
Do surveys of firms about their business climate reflect their sentiments only or are they also a reliable indicator for the course of the business cycle? Applying the correlation analysis it is shown, that there exists a statistically significant positive relationship only fort he entirety of firms and the producers of industrial goods but not for the individual branches of services.
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Trade Growth Driven by a Cyclical Upswing of the World Economy
Klaus-Jürgen Gern, Axel Lindner, Martin Micheli
Wirtschaftsdienst,
No. 11,
2017
Abstract
The surge in world trade since autumn 2016 is mainly caused by a worldwide cyclical upswing. In particular, stronger investment activity has a strong impact on international trade since the import content of investment goods is generally high. However, important structural causes for a slow down in trade still apply, and hence, its trend growth rate will not reach the level it has reached in the two decades before 2009.
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Do We Want These Two to Tango? On Zombie Firms and Stressed Banks in Europe
Manuela Storz, Michael Koetter, Ralph Setzer, Andreas Westphal
ECB Working Paper,
2017
Abstract
We show that the speed and type of corporate deleveraging depends on the interaction between corporate and financial sector health. Based on granular bank-firm data pertaining to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) from five stressed and two non-stressed euro area economies, we show that “zombie” firms generally continued to lever up during the 2010–2014 period. Whereas relationships with stressed banks reduce SME leverage on average, we also show that zombie firms that are tied to weak banks in euro area periphery countries increase their indebtedness even further. Sustainable economic recovery therefore requires both: deleveraging of banks and firms.
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Macro-Financial Modelling of the Singapore Economy: a GVAR Approach
Alessandro Galesi, Filippo di Mauro
Monetary Authority of Singapore Macroeconomic Review,
October
2017
Abstract
Globalisation has greatly increased the degree of interdependence across countries. Macroeconomic policy must therefore take a global perspective, particularly in the case of small open economies such as Singapore. From a modeller’s point of view, this requires considering many countries, regions and markets, as well as multiple channels of transmission, including trade and financial linkages. Cross-country interdependencies are increasingly reflected in the effects of global shocks, to oil or food prices for example, as well as technology and policy uncertainty spillovers.
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28.09.2017 • 35/2017
Joint Economic Forecast—Autumn 2017: Upturn Remains Robust—Amid Mounting Tensions
The German economic upturn has gained both in terms of strength and breadth. In addition to consumer spending, external trade and investments are now also contributing to economic expansion. These are the conclusions drawn by the economic research institutes in their autumn report for the German federal government. Whereas the very high economic momentum in the first half of the current year will slow slightly, expansion of economic output this year and next will exceed production capacity growth. As a result, overall capacity utilization will increase, with economic output exceeding potential output. Gross Domestic Product is likely to grow by 1.9 percent this year and by 2 percent in 2018 (calendar-adjusted: 2.2 and 2.1 percent, respectively).
Oliver Holtemöller
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Expansion Continues to Be Strong
Roland Döhrn, Ferdinand Fichtner, Oliver Holtemöller, Stefan Kooths, Timo Wollmershäuser
Wirtschaftsdienst,
No. 10,
2017
Abstract
The business cycle upswing in Germany has gained strength and breadth. In addition to private consumption, the expansion is now also supported by investment and foreign trade. The latter benefits from growing exports to the euro area, where the economy is gaining momentum. Since the euro area upswing rests on solid fundamentals, the ECB should be able to start tapering without putting the economy at risk.
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