• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.81-101
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• 2021

This paper estimates the expectation-augmented Phillips curve, which explains inflation dynamics, in Korea. The phenomenon of low inflation in Korea has been going on for quite some time, in particular since 2012. During the Covid-19 crisis, due to low inflation expectations the operation of monetary policy was limited as the base rate approached the zero lower bound. The main objective of this paper is to estimate where and how tightly inflation expectations are anchored. It was found that long-term inflation expectations fell to around 1%, falling short of the inflation target, and that inflation expectations are strongly anchored to long-term expectations, which implies that the low inflation phenomenon is likely to extend into the future. The results also imply that even if inflation fluctuates due to temporary disturbances, it may converge to a level below the inflation target. The slight rebound of long-term expectations during the Covid-19 crisis suggests that the aggressive monetary policy may have contributed to improving economic agents' beliefs about the commitment of monetary authorities to inflation stability. This may also help long-term expectations gradually to approach the inflation target.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.413-429
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• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of consumers' inflation expectations using consumers' inflation perceptions and the sub-components of consumer price index (CPI) basket in South Korea based on a consumer survey conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK). Design/methodology/approach - Using Carroll's (2003) epidemiological model, we analyzed data from January 2013 to January 2023, resulting in a data set of 121 observations for both inflation perceptions and inflation expectations. This study focuses only on aggregate inflation expectations and perceptions because of data availability from the BOK. Findings - Professionals' forecasts play a major role in forming consumers' inflation expectations, whereas the actual headline CPI and consumers' inflation perceptions do not. These results remain robust when including the sub-components of the CPI basket in the analysis. Research implications or Originality - It would be the most efficient way to suppress professionals' expected inflation in fighting against a substantial spike in consumers' inflation expectations. To guide consumers' inflation expectations based on BOK's inflation targeting, the bank needs to consider professionals' forecasts in devising monetary policies.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.45-68
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• 2018

We uncover a nexus between actual inflation, inflation perceptions and expectations in Korea through analyzing micro as well as aggregate data from the Consumer Survey. We document two novel findings. First, households' subjective perceptions of inflation exert more impact on expectation formation than actual inflation. Second, inflation perceptions are broadly in line with the trajectory of the inflation trend. This is attributable to the fact that changes in actual inflation have been generated mainly by the consumption items whose price changes are perceived more sensitively as those items are frequently bought or have a larger share in household expenditures. Conducting a cross-country comparison, we find that information rigidity in expectation formation process and the nexus between perceptions and expectations of inflation prove to be stronger in Korea. Additionally, we reconfirm the existing finding that the scope of information utilized for forming inflation expectations is fairly circumscribed.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.37 no.sup
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• pp.33-63
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• 2015

This paper attempts to investigate the Korean households' inflation expectations with particular attention to information rigidity. For this purpose, we derive an empirical model from a sticky information model $\acute{a}$ la Mankiw and Reis (2002) and estimate it. In addition, it is also examined whether the expectation formation is state-dependent on macroeconomic conditions. The main findings of this paper are as follows. First, it turns out that the information rigidity in Korean households' inflation expectations is very high. In a month, most of the households simply keep their inflation expectations the same as before instead of updating them based on newly arrived information. Furthermore, when updating their expectations, the households tend to rely on the backward-looking information such as actual inflation rates in the past rather than on the forward-looking forecasts by experts. Second, it is found that the expectation formation is varying as inflation rate changes. Specifically, when the inflation is high, the sensitivity of the households' inflation expectations to actual inflation increases and the gap between inflation expectations and actual inflation shrinks. It implies that Korean households update their expectations more frequently when the inflation matters than not.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.65-75
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• 2021

This study analyzes the validity of the Phillips curve with regards to Turkey. The existence and direction of the causality relationship (reason-outcome relationship) between unemployment and inflation is investigated using inflation and unemployment data for the period 1980-2019. Unit root tests were utilized to evaluate the stationarity of the series. In line with the Zivot-Andrews unit root test, which was developed in response to the criticism of the failure of studies that presented macro-variables like inflation to consider traditional unit root tests, in this research, the Engle-Granger cointegration test was implemented to check whether the series could perform a joint action, and, finally, the Granger causality relationship was explored. According to the results of the analysis, over the relevant period there was a single directional causality relationship from inflation toward unemployment in Turkey. The importance of this relationship at the 10% significance level indicates the existence of many different factors that affect inflation and unemployment. Given the existence of a cointegration and causality relationship between inflation and unemployment, it can be said that, in Turkey, the Phillips curve is valid for the period 1980-2019 and that an increase of 1% in inflation will reduce the unemployment rate by 0.028%.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.7-17
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• 2022

The article discusses the problems caused by inflation in the developing Asia-Pacific region during the time of the worldwide pandemic and suggests innovative solutions to the problem. The reality is that some of the commodity groups from the consumer basket (e.g., non-seasonal fruits, electronics, furniture, hotel, and restaurant services, etc.) fail to reflect the needs of the low-income earners, which make the majority in developing countries. At the same time, the inflation targeting regime has become outdated and not reliable, because of uncontrolled exogenic factors (imported inflation, fluctuation in oil prices, supply chain disruption, Russia-Ukraine war, etc.) prevailing on endogenic factors and thus making it impossible to control the price stability, especially in developing countries. Since, the old-fashioned inflation index and inflation targeting mechanisms regrettably fail to fully reflect both the society and governmental/central banks' expectations, based on which we first should have better care and second create better policies; we propose to use a combination of already well-known indexes and policies, with the new statistical indicators, which reflects price fluctuations on the medication, utilities, and nutrition.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.153-166
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• 2022

The study estimates the Structured VAR and the Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model for the Vietnamese economy based on the new Keynesian model for small and open economies, with the output gap, inflation, policy interest rate, the Vietnamese exchange rate, and the inflation and interest rate in the United States. The paper aims to clarify the impulse response of the macro variables through their shocks. It offers to model the SVAR and DSGE processes, as well as describe why and how interest rate policy is important in the impulse response of macro variables like the output gap and inflation process. The study supports the central role of monetary policy by giving empirical evidence for the new Keynesian theory, according to which an interest rate shock causes the output gap to widen and inflation to decrease. Finally, the application of the DSGE model is becoming more and more popular in the State Bank of Viet Nam to improve its policy planning, analyzing, and forecasting policy towards sustainable and stable growth.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.95-120
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• 2014

This paper attempts to demonstrate the critical role of expectation horizons in economic agents building their expectations for the future. It starts with the analysis of what constraints the economics-based assumption related to information efficiency could impose in the stochastic process, and then suggests a new concept, random revision of expectation, to refer to the case when the adjustment process of expected variables employs newly generated information only. According to the inflation dynamics formula drawn under this condition, the demand pressure measured by output gap is found to cause different impacts on inflation according to different expectation horizons. The empirical analysis of this model using the data on Korea reveals that a short expectation horizon causes coefficient estimates to become small and statistically less significant.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.10
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• pp.571-579
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• 2020

This paper examines how human capital and other economic variables, such as private investment, economic growth, government investment, inflation, and unemployment influence inequality in Indonesia's provinces. We apply panel data model with fixed effect estimation for the data of 34 provinces from the period 2013 to 2019. We develop a new index for human capital using the education index approach. The results show that human capital has a negative and significant effect on income inequality. An increase in human capital is related to an increase in knowledge and competence due to the longer average school year and expectations of the school year. Human capital has increased the possibility of a person being accepted into the job market and earning a higher income; hence, it lowers income inequality. We also find that inflation leads to a higher gap of income distribution. A further implication of this situation is that the rise in inflation causes an increase in low-income people, and as a consequence, makes their lives worse off. This paper will be beneficial for policy-makers for whom human capital, which is measured using an education index, is an important factor that significantly affects income inequality, in addition to other economic factors.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.3-19
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• 1991

This paper attempts to identify key determinants of long run movements of real M2 by using the Johansen procedure for estimating and testing cointegration relations. It turns out that the real M2 equation has been stable over the long run despite rapid changes in financial structure since 1975. Moreover, the real M2 equation can be reduced to a velocity equation with the opportunity cost variable, expected inflation less the weighted average rate paid on M2 deposits, being the key determinant. However, it does not work to use a market interest rate such as the yield on corporate bonds in place of expected inflation for calculation of the opportunity cost. In the U.S., a market interest rate can be used, but not in Korea. Presumably, two somewhat different reasonings can be used to explain this result. One is that the yield on corporate bonds may not adequately reflect the inflationary expectations due to regulations on movements in interest rates. The other is that M2 deposits are not readily substitutable with such assets as corporate bonds because of market segmentations, regulations, and so on. From the policymaker's point of view, this implies that the inflation rate is an important indicator of a policy response. On the other hand, policymakers do not regard movements of the yield on corporate bonds as an important policy indicator. Altogether, the role of interest rates has been quite limited in Korea because of incomplete interest rate liberalization, an underdeveloped financial system, implementation procedures of policy measures, and so on. The result that M2 velocity has a positive cointegration relation with expected inflation minus the average rate on M2 implies that frequent adjustments of the regulated rates on M2 will be necessary as market conditions change. As the expected inflation gets higher, M2 velocity will eventually increase, given that the rates on M2 do not change. This will cause higher inflation. If interest rates are liberalized, then increases in market interest rates will result in lagged increases in deposits rates on M2. However, in Korea a substantial portion of deposit rates are regulated and will not change without the authority's initiatives. A tight monetary policy will cause increases in a few market interest rates. But the market mechanism, upward pressure for interest rate adjustments, never reaches regulated deposit rates. Hence the overall effects of tight monetary policy diminish considerably, only causing distortions in the flow of funds. Therefore, frequent adjustments of deposit rates are necessary as market conditions such as inflationary expectations change. Then it becomes important for the policymaker to actively engage in adjusting regulated deposit rates, because the financial sector in Korea is not fully developed.