Five essays on monetary policy applications in an open economy under economic uncertainty and shocks

Abstract

In this dissertation, we analyzed the monetary policy applications under uncertainty and shocks and their effects on the economy. The uncertainties we concern are inflation uncertainty and exchange rate risk, whereas the shocks are the unexpected exchange rate shocks, change in parity and capital flights. The case study is Turkey, except the analysis on inflation uncertainty, which is on G-7 countries. The analyses on inflation uncertainty suggest that inflation increases inflation uncertainty for G-7 countries, whereas inflation uncertainty decreases inflation for four countries. Therefore, when uncertainty is high, the central bank reduces those real costs at the margin by reducing inflation. On the other hand, the effects of exchange rate risk are an increase in prices, a depreciation of the real exchange rate, and a decrease in the output. In the face of unexpected currency depreciation or appreciation, the economic activity decreases. The effects of an improvement in the USD-Euro parity on an open economy, where the denomination composition of trade is asymmetric is an appreciation of the real exchange rate, an increase in the relative income and an improvement in the trade balance. The empirical analyses on capital outflows suggest that growth decreases, inflation increases and exchange rate depreciates, which are critical negative signals for an economy. Overall this dissertation suggests that when designing a policy program, it is important to consider the possible deviations from the policies. Otherwise, it would not be possible to achieve the targets, moreover the costs would be too high for the economy.