RESEARCH DISCUSSION PAPERS

A Structural Model of Australia as a Small Open Economy

Kristoffer Nimark

RDP2007-01

February 2007

This paper sets up and estimates a structural model of Australia as a small open economy using Bayesian techniques. Unlike other recent studies, the paper shows that a small micro-founded model can capture the open economy dimensions quite well. Specifically, the model attributes a substantial fraction of the volatility of domestic output and inflation to foreign disturbances and matches the evidence from reduced-form studies. In addition, the model relies much less than other estimated models on a persistent shock to the risk premium to explain changes in the nominal exchange rate. The paper also investigates the effects of various exogenous shocks on the Australian economy.