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

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

State-dependent or time-dependent pricing? New evidence from a monthly firm-level survey: 1980-2017

We examine the relative importance of time and state dependence in the price-setting decisions of firms using a monthly panel of German firms over the period 1980–2017. We propose a refined version of time dependence by introducing different hazard functions for price increases and decreases. We find three sets of results. First, time dependence is much more important for price setting than what the previous literature has found. Second, price decreases can be well explained by time dependence alone. Price increases are best predicted by the interaction of time-dependent and firm-specific state factors. Third, time dependence for price increases and decreases look completely different from each other. Our empirical results support the notion that theoretical models should integrate both time and state dependence