Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/27518 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Citation: 
[Journal:] Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal [ISSN:] 1864-6042 [Volume:] 2 [Issue:] 2008-34 [Publisher:] Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) [Place:] Kiel [Year:] 2008 [Pages:] 1-36
Publisher: 
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Kiel
Abstract: 
The present value model of the current account has been very popular, as it provides an optimal benchmark to which actual current account series have often been compared. We show why persistence in observed current account data makes the estimated optimal series very sensitive to small-sample estimation error, making it almost impossible to determine whether the consumption-smoothing current account tracks the actual current account closely, or not closely at all. Moreover, the standard Wald test of the model will falsely accept or reject the model with substantial probability. Monte Carlo simulations and estimations using annual and quarterly data from five OECD countries strongly support our predictions. In particular, we conclude that two important consensus results in the literature - that the optimal series is highly correlated with the actual series, but substantially less volatile - are not statistically robust.
Subjects: 
Currrent account
present value model
model evaluation
JEL: 
C11
C52
F32
F41
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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