Nominal rigidities and the dynamic effects of a shock to monetary policy

We present a model embodying moderate amounts of nominal rigidities which accounts for the observed inertia in inflation and persistence in output. The key features of our model are those that prevent a sharp rise in marginal costs after an expansionary shock to monetary policy. Of these features, the most important are staggered wage contracts of average duration three quarters, and variable capital utilization.Monetary policy

Factor demand linkages, technology shocks, and the business cycle

This paper argues that factor demand linkages can be important for the transmission of both sectoral and aggregate shocks. We show this using a panel of highly disaggregated manufacturing sectors together with sectoral structural VARs. When sectoral interactions are explicitly accounted for, a contemporaneous technology shock to all manufacturing sectors implies a positive response in both output and hours at the aggregate level. Otherwise there is a negative correlation, as in much of the existing literature. Furthermore, we find that technology shocks are important drivers of the business cycle

Optimized search strategy for detecting scientifically strong studies on treatment through PubMed

Our study was designed to optimize the search strategies based on the work of Haynes et al. for detecting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) through PubMed. In particular, we aimed to improve precision for broad and narrow searches on interventional studies. We used in addition to the string suggested by the Hedge Team the following: {NOT ((animals [mh] NOT humans [mh]) OR (review [pt] OR meta-analysis [pt]))} and tested its effectiveness. The search was carried out on a year's worth of articles from the PubMed database. We analyzed 35,590 bibliographic citations about four relevant major topics in internal medicine (hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, and hepatitis). Precision, percentage gain between the Hedge Team search strategies and the new one were computed and reported in the text. Moreover, a pooled analysis was carried out in terms of absolute precision difference. We observed better precision for both broad and narrow searches. However, effective gain resulted only for broad searches. In this case, bibliographic citation recall effectively reduced (-24 to -35 % retrieved citation with a gain of 32-54 %) without loss of information. The search strategy improved broad searches regarding each of the four considered topics. We think this new search strategy, based on a previous work of the Hedge team, could be a step forward and can save some time by researchers

Monetary Policy and Stock Market Booms

Historical data and model simulations support the following conclusion. Inflation is low during stock market booms, so that an interest rate rule that is too narrowly focused on inflation destabilizes asset markets and the broader economy. Adjustments to the interest rate rule can remove this source of welfare-reducing instability. For example, allowing an independent role for credit growth (beyond its role in constructing the inflation forecast) would reduce the volatility of output and asset prices.

Exposing the human nude phenotype [4]

Peer reviewedSubmitted Versio