O47 - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output ConvergenceReturn

This paper empirically investigates the contribution of tourism destination competitiveness to the growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) among selected European economies. This analysis used the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) to estimate the tourism contribution of European economies. More specifically, this paper examines the variables that encourage tourism performance as defined by the TTCI rankings and the contribution of tourism to GDP. Data presented in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index report by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank country database, and the World Travel and Tourism Council were used to calculate the TTCI classification and tourism performance variables. The indicators were chosen under the circumstance that they rationally suit the proposed research scheme. The results from the correlation analysis show that GDP growth depends on improved travel and tourism surroundings, higher tourism destination competitiveness, the creation of new business opportunities and the need for government support. The examination also verifies that the economic inequalities between selected countries affected the differences in the tourism competitiveness rankings. Finally, the restraints on the empirical findings are discussed and the research implications for future analyses are recommended.

The paper deals with a comparison of alternative monetary policy rules also known as Taylor rules. First, a New Keynesian DSGE model is specified. Results of this model are used as a benchmark. These results are obtained using Bayesian techniques. Bayesian techniques are used for both the estimation and the subsequent model comparison. The main experiment introduces three modifications to monetary policy rules. One specifies simple, Svensson and forward-looking monetary policy rules. The estimation is performed on Czech data and the period is from 2000Q1 to 2012Q3. Each specification of the New Keynesian model contains the same observed variables, GDP growth and inflation. The estimation of the benchmark model contains an interesting output as a shock decomposition of both the observed variables. The main finding of this paper is that the parameter estimates of all the modifications of monetary policy rules are almost the same and the log data density looks very similar for all the specified models. On the other hand, a completely opposite conclusion may be derived from the results of the Bayesian comparison of the DSGE models. The key output is that a forward-looking monetary policy rule significantly improves the ability of the New Keynesian DSGE model to fit the observed data.

The paper deals with the estimation of the New Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPC). First, the history of the Phillips curve and the NKPC is outlined. Next, similar research and papers regarding the NKPC are mentioned. The main goal of the paper is to estimate the parameters of the NKPC using the Bayesian techniques. These techniques are widely used for the DSGE model estimation and this paper contains links to the source foreign literature. The NKPC is estimated as part of a fully calibrated Small Open Economy (SOE) DSGE model. The SOE DSGE model consists of households, firms, the government and the central bank. The estimation is performed on the Czech data and the period is from 2001Q1 to 2012Q2. The first output of the paper is the parameter estimates of the NKPC. The main finding is that the future expected inflation plays a crucial role in setting the level of inflation. Moreover, a shock decomposition of domestic and imported inflation is performed and the main output is that the domestic monetary policy shock causes crucial changes in the level of both domestic and imported inflation.

The topic of the relationship between human capital and economic growth has been intensively examined in empirical studies since the 1980s. Although the positive impact of education and human capital on growth has been repeatedly confirmed, there are still doubts about the strength and probable inverse causality of the relationship. The quality of human capital is frequently mentioned in the empirical literature as an important factor which can help to understand and properly determine the link. The quality of human capital is a key focus of this paper. It tests and confirms the hypothesis that the quality is an important factor which significantly influences the intensity of the relationship. The main hypothesis has been tested using the dynamic panel data technique (GMM estimation) on panel data covering 65 countries in 1960-2005. It has been confirmed that the years of schooling have a higher positive impact on economic growth in countries with a higher quality of education.

The article deals with compilation of symmetric input-output tables per hour worked. The purpose of the paper is to show the process of transformation of classic monetary based input-output tables into physical tables based on hours worked. The paper describes both the possibilities and difficulties of available data sources and used methods. The presented model is based on published product x product symmetric input-output tables and data on hours worked from national accounts. Beside symmetric input-output tables, supply and use tables are used for obtaining product x industry structures. The model is based on the combination of square matrices of intermediate consumption broken down by products, an output matrix broken down by products x industries, and a vector of hours worked broken down by industries. The two approaches to the output matrix structure are a key issue for obtaining a tool for the transformation of data on hours worked in a specific industry into a specific product. These physical symmetric input-output tables are used as a powerful tool for the analysis of labour productivity and labour intensity.