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Ramón
González-Hernández
Phone Numbers: (786) 845-8756 Home; (786) 486-6341
Address: 5078 NW 114th Path, Doral, FL, 33178,
E -Mails: rgonz002@fiu.edu ; rgonzalez03@gmail.com.
Florida International University (FIU) Research Statement
DM Building, 3rd
Floor
Tel: (305) 348-2316 – Fax:
(305) 348-1524
Research FieldS
-Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
-International Economics.
CURRENT RESEARCH
WORKING PAPERS
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Open
Economy Macroeconomics” 
-Habit Formation,
Adjustments Costs, and International Business Cycle Puzzles. 
Abstract
This paper analyzes the extent
to which incorporating habit formation and adjustment costs in investment in a
one-good two-country general equilibrium model would help overcome some of the
international business cycle puzzles. Unlike the standard RBC models, the model
used here generates persistent, cyclical adjustment paths in response to
shocks. The model also yields positive cross-country correlations in
consumption, employment, investment and output, with cross-country correlations
in output higher than the ones in consumption that are qualitatively consistent
with the stylized facts. These results are particularly striking given the
predicted negative correlations in investment, employment and output that are
typically found in the literature.
Key
words: Habit formation,
adjustment costs, international correlations, international business cycle
puzzles.
JEL classification: E13, E20, E32.
-Comparison Utility,
Endogenous Time Preference, and Economic Growth.
Abstract
This paper analyzes the extent
to which a model where consumers' preferences exhibit comparison-based utility
and endogenous discounting improves upon the existing literature in mimicking the
transitional dynamics of an economy after a shock that destroys part of its
capital stock. It is shown that under inward-looking endogenous preferences
(habit formation), the model is able to qualitatively resemble the observed
stylized facts after the destruction of capital in Europe and Japan during
World War II. Moreover, the model outperforms existing ones in replicating the
behavior of the saving rate (both on impact and along the transient paths)
after this historical event.
Key words: Comparison utility, Habit formation,
Endogenous time preference, Economic growth.
JEL classification: D91, E21, O40
-An Empirical Assessment of
the Exchange Rate Expectation Formation Mechanism in Developing Economies.
(Work in Progress)
This paper analyzes empirically whether there
are differences in the exchange rate expectation formation mechanism in a
sample of Latin-American countries. Standard co-integration and error
correction econometric techniques are used to test for the existence of a
long-term stable relation for an exchange rate expectation formation mechanism
built from a nested specification of the main theories of exchange rate behavior:
(i) “Purchasing Power Parity”, (ii) “Uncovered Interest Parity” and the (iii)
“Random Walk Hypothesis” in the line of the one presented in Sánchez-Fung and
Prazmowski (2004)[1]. In general a thorough analysis of the nature of the
exchange rate expectation mechanism is important for understanding phenomena
such as the “peso problem” and the “fear of floating” and is useful for the formulation
and implementation of monetary and exchange rate policy in developing countries.
Key words: Exchange rate expectation formation mechanism, PPP,
UIP, random walk, developing economies.
JEL classification: E40, E47, E52
[1] Sánchez-Fung, José R., and Peter A.
Prazmowski (2004). “PPP, Random Walks, and UIP after interest rate liberalization
in a small developing economy”, Economics Bulletin, 6, 1-7.
In this study the authors conclude that the
uncovered interest parity is the main driver of exchange rate expectations in
the