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An OLG model of global imbalances

Eugeni, S.

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Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between East Asian countries' high propensity to save and global imbalances in a two-country OLG model with production. The saving behavior of emerging economies and capital outflows to the United States can be attributed to their poor pay-as-you-go systems. The model predicts that emerging countries run a trade surplus only as long as the long-run growth rate of the economy is higher than the real interest rate (capital overaccumulation case). The low real interest rate in the US is therefore evidence in favor of the hypothesis that there is a “global saving glut” in the world economy. The model can explain why the US current account deteriorated gradually and only in the late 1990s, although the net foreign asset position had already turned negative in the early 1980s. Finally, the analysis also implies that an improvement of the pay-as-you-go system in China would have the effect of reducing the imbalances. In accordance with the theory, we find that the higher is the percentage of the working population covered by the pay-as-you-go system the lower are savings and the current account balance in a cross-section of countries.

Citation

Eugeni, S. (2015). An OLG model of global imbalances. Journal of International Economics, 95(1), 83-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2014.10.003

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 20, 2014
Online Publication Date Oct 28, 2014
Publication Date Jan 1, 2015
Deposit Date Feb 3, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of International Economics
Print ISSN 0022-1996
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 95
Issue 1
Pages 83-97
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2014.10.003
Keywords Global imbalances, Capital flows, Trade dynamics, OLG model, Pay-as-you-go-system, Saving rates.
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1415269

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Copyright Statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of International Economics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of International Economics, 95, January 2015, 10.1016/j.jinteco.2014.10.003.




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