PANDEMIC SHOCKS AND MACRO-FINANCIAL POLICY RESPONSES: AN ESTIMATED DSGE-VAR MODEL FOR INDONESIA

This paper attempts to investigate the impact of policy mix in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We employ the New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) framework and the Del Negro et al. (2007) approach to estimate the model. We investigate the effectiveness of policy mix in Indonesia by taking into account real and financial linkages, as well as other market imperfections. We intend to analyze and evaluate the adequacy of monetary, fiscal, and macroprudential policy by simulating each policy option using Indonesian-specific factors and comparing them. Our findings show that policy mix has a greater impact on accelerating economic recovery but does not necessarily lead to anchor inflation. © 2022 The authors.

The macroeconomics of a pandemic: A minimalist framework*

To analyze the macroeconomics of a pandemic we build a minimalist framework with two essential components. The first is productivity-related: if the virus forces firms to shed labor beyond a certain threshold, productivity suffers. The second component is a credit market imperfection: because lenders cannot be sure a borrower will repay, they only lend against collateral. Expected productivity determines collateral value;in turn, collateral value can limit borrowing and productivity. As a result, adverse shocks have large magnification effects, in an unemployment and asset price deflation doom loop. There may be multiple equilibria, so that pessimistic expectations can push the economy to a bad equilibrium with limited borrowing and low employment and productivity. The model helps identify policies to fight the effects of the pandemic. Traditional expansionary fiscal policy has no beneficial effects, while cutting interest rates has a limited effect if the initial real interest rate is low. By contrast, several unconventional policies, including wage subsidies, helicopter drops of liquid assets, equity injections, and loan guarantees, can keep the economy in a high-employment, high-productivity equilibrium. Such policies can be fiscally expensive, so they are feasible only with ample fiscal space or emergency financing from abroad. Preliminary macroeconomic evidence is consistent with the mechanisms in our model. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd