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Monetary Persistence, Imperfect Competition, And Staggering Complementarities

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  • Merkl, Christian
  • Snower, Dennis

Abstract

This paper explores the influence of wage and price staggering on monetary persistence. We show that, for plausible parameter values, wage and price staggering are complementary in generating monetary persistence. We do so by proposing the new measure of “quantitative inertia,” after discussing weaknesses of the “contract multiplier,” a standard measure of monetary persistence. The existence of complementarities means that beyond understanding how wage and price staggering work in isolation, it is important to investigate their interactions. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that the degree of monetary persistence generated by wage vis-à-vis price staggering depends on the relative competitiveness of the labor and product markets. We show that the conventional finding that wage staggering generates more persistence than price staggering holds under homogeneous capital accumulation. Under firm-specific capital, wage staggering generates more persistence only when the labor market is sufficiently competitive relative to the product market.

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  • Merkl, Christian & Snower, Dennis, 2009. "Monetary Persistence, Imperfect Competition, And Staggering Complementarities," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 81-106, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:macdyn:v:13:y:2009:i:01:p:81-106_07
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    Cited by:

    1. Marika Karanassou & Hector Sala & Dennis J. Snower, 2008. "The Evolution Of Inflation And Unemployment: Explaining The Roaring Nineties," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 334-354, December.
    2. Marika Karanassou & Hector Sala & Dennis J. Snower, 2008. "The Evolution Of Inflation And Unemployment: Explaining The Roaring Nineties," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 334-354, December.
    3. Merkl, Christian & Snower, Dennis, 2009. "Monetary Persistence, Imperfect Competition, And Staggering Complementarities," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 81-106, February.
    4. Auray, Stéphane & de Blas, Beatriz, 2013. "Investment, matching and persistence in a modified cash-in-advance economy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 591-610.
    5. Lechthaler, Wolfgang & Merkl, Christian & Snower, Dennis J., 2010. "Monetary persistence and the labor market: A new perspective," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 968-983, May.
    6. Marika Karanassou & Hector Sala & Dennis J. Snower, 2010. "Phillips Curves And Unemployment Dynamics: A Critique And A Holistic Perspective," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 1-51, February.
    7. Wohltmann, Hans-Werner & Winkler, Roland C., 2009. "Rational expectations models with anticipated shocks and optimal policy: a general solution method and a new Keynesian example," Economics Working Papers 2009-01, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics.
    8. Langer, Viktoria C.E., 2016. "News shocks, nonseparable preferences, and optimal monetary policy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 237-246.
    9. Wohltmann, Hans-Werner & Winkler, Roland C., 2008. "On the Non-Optimality of Information: An Analysis of the Welfare Effects of Anticipated Shocks in the New Keynesian Model," Economics Working Papers 2008-21, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics.

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    JEL classification:

    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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