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RESEARCH PAPER
The Hansen Real Business Cycle Model and Its Application in the Polish Economy
 
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Publication date: 2010-12-31
 
 
GNPJE 2010;244(11-12):19-39
 
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ABSTRACT
The paper analyzes the so-called real business cycle model developed by American economist Gary D. Hansen. The model is expanded to include an indivisible labor mechanism. The aim is to check the model in terms of its accuracy in explaining business cycle fluctuations in Poland. The first part of the article discusses the assumptions and structure of the model. The authors define a state of stationary equilibrium and the final form of the model—a system of log-linearized equations. In the second part of the paper, the authors calibrate the structural parameters and conduct an empirical analysis of the Hansen model, beginning with the characteristics of the variables used in the study and the value of the model’s parameters. The model is solved and the reactions of individual variables to a technological shock are analyzed. The coefficients of correlation and the deviations of standard simulated and real variables show that the model correctly reflects the direction and strength of the relationships between the variables, the authors say. Positive correlations were obtained between all the simulated variables, in the same way as in the case of actual data. At the same time, in the case of simulated data, much higher correlations were obtained between capital and consumption and between technological changes and labor than in the case of actual data. As part of the study, an analysis was also conducted of the reactions of variables to a technological shock introduced to the model on an impulse basis. The strongest reaction to the shock was recorded in the case of labor supply and production. Moreover, in the same way as for actual data, the authors found that the fluctuations of consumption are much weaker than the fluctuations of production. This stems from the fact that households tend to smooth out consumption over time, Kuchta and Piłat say. The obtained results confirm that the dynamism of the Hansen real business cycle model, despite its simplicity, relatively accurately reflects the changes in Poland’s key macroeconomic variables.
eISSN:2300-5238
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