A Unified Framework for Using Micro-Data to Compare Dynamic Wage and Price Setting Models

This paper develops a statistical framework of steady-state identities which enable us to match the distributions of durations found in the micro-data to generalized Taylor and Calvo models of time-dependent pricing. We illustrate the approach with the UK micro CPI data for 2006-2009, and employ the pricing models in a simple macromodel. We find that the Generalized Taylor Economy generates a hump shaped response function, whilst the Generalized Calvo does not.price-spell, steady state, hazard rate, Calvo, Taylor

Technological Change, Entry and Stock Market Dynamics: An Analysis of Transition in a Monopolistic Economy

This paper explores an equilibrium model for industry entry dynamics and technological change. We focus on the share valuation of firms in the transition as technology changes, and whether or not share prices are always increasing when technology improves. We find that there can be a U-shaped transition dynamic, so that an initial boom in share price is followed by a temporary fall in share price even though the underlying technology is improving.technology, share-price, entry, industry, dynamic.

Entry Dynamics, Capacity Utilisation and Productivity in a Dynamic Open Economy

This paper analyses an open economy Ramsey model with an endogenous labour supply without capital. The technology defines an optimal firm size. Changes to the number of firms is subject to adjustment costs, so that the entry dynamics is determined endogenously. We find that there is a short run transitory productivity dynamic introduced when there is imperfect competition due to changes in capacity utilization. We are able to analyze this in different contexts, including demand and technology shocks, both anticipated and unanticipated.entry, capacity utilisation, adjustment costs, Ramsey

The Evolution of Consistent Conjectures.

In this paper we model the evolution of conjectures in an economy consisting of a large number of firms which meet in duopolies. The duopoly game is modelled by the conjectural variation (CV) model. An evolutionary process leads to more profitable conjectures becoming more common (payoff monotone dynamics). Under payoff monotonic dynamics, convergence occurs to a small set of serially undominated strategies containing the consistent onjecture. This set can be made arbitrarily small by appropriate choice f the strategy set. If the game is dominance solvable, then the dynamics converges globally to the unique attractor.

omega - Homothetic Preferences

This paper develops a new class of homothetic preferences which generate Marshallian demand curves for individual goods which can be concave, convex or linear in own price under the assumption that agents treat aggregate price indices as given (as in the Dixit-Stiglitz (1977) monopolistic competition model). The preferences are represented by a cost function which has two parameters: omega determining the curvature of the Marshallian demand; gamma determining the elasticity of demand when all prices are equal. The cost function has a restricted form that allows for any relevant combination of these parameters for a given number of goods.homothetic; duality.

Monetary Policy and Credit in China: a Theoretical Analysis

A three-sector macro model of the Chinese economy is developed in which the activity of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is constrained by the state-imposed credit plan for working capital. Our analysis indicates the weaknesses of credit control and nominal interest rate increases as tools for holding down the price level; but the hardening of SOEs’ budget constraints is found to be an effective device. The existence of credit and currency controls tends to make devaluation contractionary. Because of general equilibrium repercussions, policies that boost industrial exports tend to reduce welfare in the agricultural sector, where poverty is concentrated.

Profits, Markups and Entry: Fiscal Policy in an Open Economy

In this paper we develop a general model of an imperfectly competitive small open economy. There is a traded and non-traded sector, whose outputs are combined in order to produce a single final good that can be either consumed or invested. We make general assumptions about preferences and technology, and analyze the impact of fiscal policy on the economy. We find that the fiscal multiplier is between zero and one, and provide sufficient conditions for it to be increasing in the degree of imperfect competition. We also are able to compare the multiplier under free-entry and with a fixed number of firms and welfare. A simple graphical representation of the model is developed.Imperfect competition, open economy, fiscal policy

A Simple Business-Cycle Model with Schumpeterian Features

We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model of imperfect competition where a sunk cost of creating a new product regulates the type of entry that dominates in the economy: new products or more competition in existing industries. Considering the process of product innovation is irreversible, introduces hysteresis in the business cycle. Expansionary shocks may lead the economy to a new ‘prosperity plateau,’ but contractionary shocks only affect the market power of mature industriesEntry, Hysteresis, Mark-up

Generalized Taylor and Generalized Calvo Price and Wage-Setting: Micro Evidence with Macro Implications

The Generalized Calvo and the Generalized Taylor model of price and wage-setting are, unlike the standard Calvo and Taylor counter-parts, exactly consistent with the distribution of durations observed in the data. Using price and wage micro-data from a major euro-area economy (France), we develop calibrated versions of these models. We assess the consequences for monetary policy transmission by embedding these calibrated models in a standard DSGE model. The Generalized Taylor model is found to help rationalizing the hump-shaped response of inflation, without resorting to the counterfactual assumption of systematic wage and price indexation.contract length, steady state, hazard rate, Calvo, Taylor, wage-setting, price-setting

A Simple Business-Cycle Model with Schumpeterian Features

We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model of imperfect competition where a sunk cost of creating a new product regulates the type of entry that dominates in the economy: new products or more competition in existing industries. Considering the process of product innovation is irreversible, introduces hysteresis in the business cycle. Expansionary shocks may lead the economy to a new 'prosperity plateau,' but contractionary shocks only affect the market power of mature industries.Entry; hysteresis, mark-up