Monetary transmission mechanisms and the macroeconomy in China: VAR/VECM approach and Bayesian DSGE model simulation

Abstract

In this thesis, by employing VAR/VECM approach and Bayesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) Model we have studied and tested the transmission mechanisms of China’s monetary policy and measured the effects of the monetary policy shocks and other exogenous macro shocks on the real macro economy to uncover the attributes of China’s business cycle. On the basis of the specified VAR/VEC Models, a bank lending channel, an interest rate channel and an asset price channel have been identified by using the time series (monthly) data of banks balance sheet variables (deposits, loans, securitises) across bank categories (aggregate banks, state banks, non-state banks) and the macroeconomic variables (output, CPI inflation, exports, imports, foreign exchange reserves) from 1996 to 2006.
We’ve estimated a benchmark Bayesian DSGE Model with Taylor’s Rule and a modified Smets-Wouters Model with money growth rule by using China’s quarterly data from 1996 to 2006 to simulate the business cycle. The estimated values of the parameters demonstrate many unique features of China’s economy and policies operations. We find that investment and preference shocks drive the forecasted GDP variance in the long run in Taylor’s rule model, but in the money growth rule model, the main contributions to the variations of the output are government expenditure, preference and productive shocks.