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The Singapore Economy
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Econometric modelling has long been an integral part of the academic and policy- making scene in Singapore and has contributed in important ways to enhancing our understanding of key relationships and interlinkages in the economy. This in turn has formed the basis for deeper and more valuable discussions of macroeconomic policy issues.
Indeed, the practice of econometric modelling has evolved into an indispensable skill for students, academics, forecasters and policy makers alike. This book fills an important gap by providing a formalized, interpretive framework of Singapore’s economic development, structure and policies. The ESU model in its fully developed version documented here represents an important addition to our stock of knowledge on the workings of the Singapore economy and the leverage effects of key policy instruments.
The model itself incorporates the latest thinking in economic and econometric techniques. For example, the authors adopt the error correction model (ECM) estimation technique, for efficiently capturing the dynamics, while imposing long-run constraints through empirically validated restrictions. Nevertheless, the model’s architects have acclimatized its design to the local setting by taking careful account of the unique features of the Singapore economic landscape. Sometimes these present particular challenges, but I believe that the authors have managed to attain a satisfactory compromise, while maintaining overall model consistency. This is most evident in the modelling of the labour market, which in Singapore is characterized by fairly complex interactions among market forces, foreign labour supply and other institution-specific factors. The specification of labour market relationships highlights another of the book’s strengths, namely the careful attention that has been paid to data issues. The systematic record of the construction of selected key labour market variables, including various “synthetic” series, will be of immense value to researchers working in this area.
The ESU model continues the recent trend in modelling by combining both sup- ply (sectoral) and demand sides of the Singapore economy, an approach that I have found to provide helpful perspectives in our own work at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The authors have used a novel method to bring together the two sides of the economy, thereby demonstrating the value of pluralism in modelling approaches.
Tilak Abeysinghe and Keen Meng Choy - Personal Name
1st Edtion
0-203-01124-4
NONE
The Singapore Economy
Economics
English
Routledge
2007
USA
1-202
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