We use a dynamic factor model to provide a semi-structural representation for 101 quarterly US macroeconomic series. We find that (i) the US economy is well described by a number of structural shocks between two and six. Focusing on the four-shock specification, we identify, using sign restrictions, two non-policy shocks, demand and supply, and two policy shocks, monetary and fiscal. We obtain ...

Ireland’s participation in stage three of Economic and Monetary Union precludes exchange rate adjustment in response to asymmetric shocks. A Structural VAR model is used to decompose the effects of asymmetric supply, demand and nominal disturbances on macroeconomic imbalances between Ireland and the UK and on the Irish pound-sterling exchange rate. The results indicate that supply shocks accoun...

Over the last two decades, developing countries have witnessed major macroeconomic shocks that have had significant impacts on the level of poverty and the distribution of incomes in these countries. Some of these shocks are the result of fluctuations in the world prices of crucial developing countries export products, whereas others are endogenously produced by economic policy reforms such as ...