Understanding Growth in Phoenix Can the FFR Help Explain Economic Activity in the MSA? Charlotte D. Smith MIAMI UNIVERSITY
Variable of Interest: Economic Growth Index of Phoenix, AZ PHXAGRIDX : Economic Conditions Index for Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (MSA) Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Note: first-differenced series for stationarity
QUESTION: Is the FFR a stationary series? Source: FRED
Stationarity of the FFR Dickey-fuller unit root tests imply non-stationarity Null Hypothesis: series follows a Random Walk P-value greater 0.05 for 1, 2, and 4 lags p-value > 0.05
Stationarity of the FFR: Debate in the literature Bec and Bassil (2009) Stationary with 2 breaks Figueiredo and Shikida (2010) Linear models inappropriate Heavy tails Existence of outliers
Stationarity of the FFR: First-difference to stationarize Notable improvement in ACF
Descriptive Statistics Source: FRED Fat tails in FFR distribution
Source: FRED Fat tail Left-hand side Negatively skewed Distribution of FFR
Source: FRED Positively correlated Significant? “Eyeball” outliers Relationship between FFR and Phoenix Growth Rate
Regression Results FFR positively, significantly correlated with Phoenix growth rate Adjusted R-squared quite low (0.05) Simple Regression Analysis
Source: FRED Concerns: 1) Nonlinearity 2) Heteroskedasticity Concentration at (0,0) Recall mean and median values of FFR ~0.0 Patterns?
Identifying Outliers 19 outliers Studentized residuals that are > 1.96 Source: FRED
Influence of the Outliers Explanatory power increases Regression Results: Full Sample Regression Results: Excluding Outliers
Considering Functional Forms: Log-level and Log-log Explanatory power null Regression Results: Log-level Regression Results: Log-log
Considering Nonlinearity: Including Quadratic Term Regression Results: PHX Growth = FFR + FFR 2
Using ANOVA to Determine Better Model Null Hypothesis FFR has a constant marginal effect on Phoenix growth rate Include FFR 2 Reject H 0
Revisiting Residual Plot: Evidence of Nonlinearity? Source: FRED
Before January observations After January observations
Groupwise Regressions Explanatory power greater for later observations Regression Results: Before January 2000 Regression Results: After January 2000
Conclusion of Findings Both series appear to follow Random Walk processes First-difference to stationarize Positive relationship between growth and FFR Relationship strengthens using more recent data ( ) Better to use nonlinear model (quadratic)
References Claudio D Shikida and Erik A Figueiredo, (2010). "Is the Federal Funds rate stationary? New evidence from P-ADF" Revista de Economia e Administração Vol. 9 Iss. 1 Frédérique Bec andCharbel Bassil, (2009). “Federal Funds Rate Stationarity: New Evidence'', Economics Bulletin, Vol. 29 no.2 pp Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US), Effective Federal Funds Rate [FEDFUNDS], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis es/FEDFUNDS, May 24, Charlotte D. Smith ECO 690 May 24, 2016