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Revisiting the optimal inflation rate with downward nominal wage rigidity: The role of heterogeneity

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  • Mineyama, Tomohide

Abstract

In this paper, I study the optimal inflation rate in a sticky price economy where workers are heterogeneous in labor productivity and wage changes are subject to asymmetric adjustment costs. The model calibrated to U.S. micro wage data implies downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR). The optimal inflation rate is substantially higher than stated in the literature in the presence of worker heterogeneity. A key to understanding the result is that DNWR causes a cross-sectional misallocation of labor as well as inefficient aggregate dynamics, enlarging the “grease the wheels” effect of inflation.

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  • Mineyama, Tomohide, 2022. "Revisiting the optimal inflation rate with downward nominal wage rigidity: The role of heterogeneity," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:139:y:2022:i:c:s0165188922000550
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jedc.2022.104350
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    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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