Interest Rate Volatility And Macroeconomic Dynamics: A Cross-Country Analysis
Employing relatively novel computational techniques, this paper examines the relation between real interest rate volatility and macroeconomic dynamics for a diverse panel of countries. Empirically, we find that interest rate volatility is quite high and persistent overall, with estimates exhibiting non-negligible heterogeneity across countries. Moreover, we highlight that volatility increases at higher interest rate levels, while it is negatively correlated with measures of macroeconomic performance such as output, consumption and investment. Our analysis demonstrates that the empirical facts can be generated by a DSGE model augmented with stochastic volatility shocks.