Time consistent monetary policy with endogenous price rigidity

Abstract

I characterize time consistent equilibrium in an economy with price rigidity and an optimizing> monetary authority operating under discretion. Firms have the option to increase their frequency> of price change, at a cost, in response to higher inflation. Previous studies, which assume a constant> degree of price rigidity across inflation regimes, find two time consistent equilibria ? one with low> inflation, the other with high inflation. In contrast, when price rigidity is endogenous, the high> inflation equilibrium ceases to exist. Hence, time consistent equilibrium is unique. This result> depends on two features of the analysis: (1) a plausible quantitative specification of the fixed cost> of price change, and (2) the presence of an arbitrarily small cost of inflation that is independent of> price rigidity.Monetary policy