Working Paper
Identification and normalization in Markov switching models of \"business cycles\"
Smith, Penelope A.; Summers, Peter M. (2004)
Recent work by Hamilton, Waggoner and Zha (2004) has demonstrated the importance of identification and normalization in econometric models. In this paper, we use the popular class of two-state Markov switching models to illustrate the consequences of alternative identification schemes for empirical analysis of business cycles. A defining feature of (classical) recessions is that economic activity declines on average. Somewhat surprisingly however, this property has been ignored in most published work that uses Markov switching models to study business cycles. We demonstrate that this matters: ...
Research Working Paper , Paper RWP 04-09

Journal Article
What caused the Great Moderation? : some cross-country evidence
Summers, Peter M. (2005-07)
Over the last 20 years or so, the volatility of aggregate economic activity has fallen dramatically in most of the industrialized world. The timing and nature of the decline vary across countries, but the phenomenon has been so widespread and persistent that it has earned the label: ?the Great Moderation.? A growing body of research has focused on the Great Moderation and its possible explanations, especially as it applies to the U.S. experience. The literature documents the international dimension of this volatility reduction, but so far little is known about the possible causes from a ...
Economic Review , Volume 90 , Issue Q III , Pages 5-32