The impact of exogenous shocks on the dynamics and persistence of inflation: a macroeconomic model-based approach for Greece

The paper analyses the dynamic response of inflation to various economic shocks and investigates the sources of inflation persistence through a set of counter factual simulations. Analysis shows that inflation seems to be more persistent in Greece than, on average, in Euro Area. Inflation persistence tends to be higher in response to fiscal shocks than others shocks. Only an indirect tax shock could be classified as “non-persistent” for Greece. Inflation persistence is crucially affected by the degree of competition in product market and it is mainly of intrinsic nature while nominal rigidities and frictions in the labor market do not seem important in explaining the relatively higher persistence of Greek inflation.Inflation persistence,macroeconomic models,impulse response function

Education and economic inequalities

The paper examines the structure and determinants of economic inequality in Greece and the EU-15 countries using data from the latest available Greek Household Budget Survey and the 7th wave of the ECHP survey. Emphasis is given to the possibly less well- researched but nonetheless important role of education in the shaping of economic inequalities. The analysis shows that in Greece, as in most EU countries, economic inequalities are primarily due to within population group disparities. However, nearly one fourth of aggregate inequality in most countries and mainly in Mediterranean countries is attributed to disparities between the population groups defined according to their educational characteristics and to a lesser extent to the occupational characteristics of the household head. In the light of this former finding, policies aimed at reducing educational disparities and improving human capital within the more disadvantaged groups of the population are likely to be more effective policies for alleviating economic inequalities.: inequality, education