IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ijc/ijcjou/y2015q1a4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ordering Policy Rules with an Unconditional Welfare Measure

Author

Listed:
  • Tatiana Damjanovic

    (University of Exeter)

  • Vladislav Damjanovic

    (University of Exeter)

  • Charles Nolan

    (University of Glasgow)

Abstract

The unconditional expectation of social welfare is often used to assess alternative macroeconomic policy rules in applied quantitative research. This paper provides a detailed analysis of such policies. It sets out the unconditionally optimal (UO) policy problem and derives a linear-quadratic (LQ) version of that problem that approximates the exact non-linear problem. The properties of UO policies are analyzed through a series of examples and contrasted with the timeless perspective (TP), exposited in Benigno and Woodford (2012). Some substantive implications for optimal monetary policy are explored.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatiana Damjanovic & Vladislav Damjanovic & Charles Nolan, 2015. "Ordering Policy Rules with an Unconditional Welfare Measure," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 11(1), pages 103-149, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ijc:ijcjou:y:2015:q:1:a:4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ijcb.org/journal/ijcb15q1a4.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.ijcb.org/journal/ijcb15q1a4.htm
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sutherland, Alan, 2002. "A Simple Second-Order Solution Method For Dynamic General Equilibrium Models," CEPR Discussion Papers 3554, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Aubhik Khan & Robert G. King & Alexander L. Wolman, 2003. "Optimal Monetary Policy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(4), pages 825-860.
    3. Robert King & Alexander L. Wolman, 1999. "What Should the Monetary Authority Do When Prices Are Sticky?," NBER Chapters, in: Monetary Policy Rules, pages 349-404, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Anderson, Evan W. & McGrattan, Ellen R. & Hansen, Lars Peter & Sargent, Thomas J., 1996. "Mechanics of forming and estimating dynamic linear economies," Handbook of Computational Economics, in: H. M. Amman & D. A. Kendrick & J. Rust (ed.), Handbook of Computational Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 171-252, Elsevier.
    5. Mark Gertler & Jordi Gali & Richard Clarida, 1999. "The Science of Monetary Policy: A New Keynesian Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1661-1707, December.
    6. McCallum, Bennett-T, 2005. "What Is the Proper Perspective for Monetary Policy Optimality?," Monetary and Economic Studies, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan, vol. 23(S1), pages 13-24, October.
    7. Jinill Kim & Sunghyun Henry Kim, 2007. "Two Pitfalls of Linearization Methods," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(4), pages 995-1001, June.
    8. Kim, Jinill & Henderson, Dale W., 2005. "Inflation targeting and nominal-income-growth targeting: When and why are they suboptimal?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(8), pages 1463-1495, November.
    9. Taylor, John B, 1979. "Estimation and Control of a Macroeconomic Model with Rational Expectations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(5), pages 1267-1286, September.
    10. Michael Woodford, 1999. "Optimal Monetary Policy Inertia," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 67(s1), pages 1-35.
    11. Jensen, Christian & McCallum, Bennett T., 2002. "The non-optimality of proposed monetary policy rules under timeless perspective commitment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 163-168, October.
    12. Schmitt-Grohe, Stephanie & Uribe, Martin, 2004. "Optimal fiscal and monetary policy under sticky prices," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 198-230, February.
    13. Benigno, Pierpaolo & Woodford, Michael, 2012. "Linear-quadratic approximation of optimal policy problems," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(1), pages 1-42.
    14. Erceg, Christopher J. & Henderson, Dale W. & Levin, Andrew T., 2000. "Optimal monetary policy with staggered wage and price contracts," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 281-313, October.
    15. Andrew Blake, 2001. "A Timeless Perspective on Optimality in Forward-Looking Rational Expectations Models," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 188, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    16. Calvo, Guillermo A., 1983. "Staggered prices in a utility-maximizing framework," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 383-398, September.
    17. Mark Gertler & Jordi Gali & Richard Clarida, 1999. "The Science of Monetary Policy: A New Keynesian Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1661-1707, December.
    18. Schmitt-Grohe, Stephanie & Uribe, Martin, 2007. "Optimal simple and implementable monetary and fiscal rules," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1702-1725, September.
    19. Tatiana Damjanovic & Charles Nolan, 2010. "Relative Price Distortions and Inflation Persistence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 1080-1099, September.
    20. Debortoli, Davide & Nunes, Ricardo, 2006. "On Linear Quadratic Approximations," MPRA Paper 544, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jul 2006.
    21. Damjanovic, Tatiana & Damjanovic, Vladislav & Nolan, Charles, 2008. "Unconditionally optimal monetary policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 491-500, April.
    22. Kollmann, Robert, 2002. "Monetary policy rules in the open economy: effects on welfare and business cycles," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 989-1015, July.
    23. Pierpaolo Benigno & Michael Woodford, 2005. "Inflation Stabilization And Welfare: The Case Of A Distorted Steady State," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(6), pages 1185-1236, December.
    24. Christian Jensen & Bennett T. Mccallum, 2010. "Optimal Continuation versus the Timeless Perspective in Monetary Policy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(6), pages 1093-1107, September.
    25. Julio J. Rotemberg & Michael Woodford, 1998. "An Optimization-Based Econometric Framework for the Evaluation of Monetary Policy: Expanded Version," NBER Technical Working Papers 0233, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Whiteman, Charles H, 1986. "An Analytical Policy Design under Rational Expectations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(6), pages 1387-1405, November.
    27. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801, October.
    28. Benigno, Pierpaolo & Woodford, Michael, 2006. "Optimal taxation in an RBC model: A linear-quadratic approach," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(9-10), pages 1445-1489.
    29. Robert M. Solow, 1974. "The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Chennat Gopalakrishnan (ed.), Classic Papers in Natural Resource Economics, chapter 12, pages 257-276, Palgrave Macmillan.
    30. Ascari, Guido & Ropele, Tiziano, 2007. "Optimal monetary policy under low trend inflation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(8), pages 2568-2583, November.
    31. repec:bla:manchs:v:67:y:1999:i:0:p:1-35 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Levine, Paul & Pearlman, Joseph & Pierse, Richard, 2008. "Linear-quadratic approximation, external habit and targeting rules," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 3315-3349, October.
    33. Robert Holzmann & Richard Hinz, 2005. "Old Age Income Support in the 21st century: An International Perspective on Pension Systems and Reform," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7336.
    34. Horvath Michal, 2011. "Alternative Perspectives on Optimal Public Debt Adjustment," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, November.
    35. Kydland, Finn E & Prescott, Edward C, 1977. "Rules Rather Than Discretion: The Inconsistency of Optimal Plans," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(3), pages 473-491, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Girdėnas, Šarūnas, 2018. "A Note On Simple Monetary Policy Rules With Labor Market And Financial Frictions," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(5), pages 1321-1344, July.
    2. Damjanovic, Tatiana & Damjanovic, Vladislav & Nolan, Charles, 2021. "Unconditionally optimal Ramsey policy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Gersbach, Hans & Hahn, Volker & Liu, Yulin, 2017. "Macroprudential Policy in the New Keynesian World," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168185, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tatiana Damjanovic & Vladislav Damjanovic & Charles Nolan, 2015. "Ordering Policy Rules with an Unconditional Welfare Measure," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 11(1), pages 103-149, January.
    2. Damjanovic, Tatiana & Damjanovic, Vladislav & Nolan, Charles, 2008. "Unconditionally optimal monetary policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 491-500, April.
    3. Benigno, Pierpaolo & Woodford, Michael, 2012. "Linear-quadratic approximation of optimal policy problems," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(1), pages 1-42.
    4. Damjanovic, Tatiana & Damjanovic, Vladislav & Nolan, Charles, 2021. "Unconditionally optimal Ramsey policy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    5. Damjanovic, Tatiana & Damjanovic, Vladislav & Nolan, Charles, 2008. "Unconditionally optimal monetary policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 491-500, April.
    6. Tatiana Damjanovic & Vladislav Damjanovic & Charles Nolan, 2006. "Optimal Time Consistent Monetary Policy," CDMA Working Paper Series 200606, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis, revised 15 Jan 2007.
    7. Stephanie Schmitt-Grohé & Martín Uribe, 2006. "Optimal Fiscal and Monetary Policy in a Medium-Scale Macroeconomic Model," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2005, Volume 20, pages 383-462, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Dennis, Richard & Soderstrom, Ulf, 2006. "How Important Is Precommitment for Monetary Policy?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(4), pages 847-872, June.
    9. Tatiana Damjanovic & Vladislav Damjanovic & Charles Nolan, 2005. "Optimal Monetary Policy Rules from a Timeless Perspective," CDMA Working Paper Series 200510, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis.
    10. Ricardo Nunes & Jinill Kim & Jesper Linde & Davide Debortoli, 2014. "Designing a Simple Loss Function for the Fed: Does the Dual Mandate Make Sense?," 2014 Meeting Papers 1043, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    11. Davide Debortoli & Jinill Kim & Jesper Lindé & Ricardo Nunes, 2019. "Designing a Simple Loss Function for Central Banks: Does a Dual Mandate Make Sense?," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(621), pages 2010-2038.
    12. Sebastian Sienknecht, 2010. "On the Informational Loss Inherent in Approximation Procedures: Welfare Implications and Impulse Responses," Jena Economics Research Papers 2010-005, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    13. Pontiggia, Dario, 2008. "Commitment policy and optimal positive long-run inflation," MPRA Paper 9534, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Jinill Kim & Sunghyun Kim, 2018. "Conditional Versus Unconditional Utility as Welfare Criterion: Two Examples," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 719-730, March.
    15. Bennett T. McCallum & Edward Nelson, 2004. "Timeless perspective vs. discretionary monetary policy in forward-looking models," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 86(Mar), pages 43-56.
    16. Stephanie Schmitt-Grohe & Martin Uribe, 2005. "Optimal Fiscal and Monetary Policy in a Medium-Scale Macroeconomic Model: Expanded Version," NBER Working Papers 11417, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Ester Faia & Tommaso Monacelli, 2008. "Optimal Monetary Policy in a Small Open Economy with Home Bias," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(4), pages 721-750, June.
    18. Pierpaolo Benigno & Michael Woodford, 2005. "Inflation Stabilization And Welfare: The Case Of A Distorted Steady State," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(6), pages 1185-1236, December.
    19. Horvath Michal, 2011. "Alternative Perspectives on Optimal Public Debt Adjustment," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, November.
    20. Christian Jensen & Bennett T. Mccallum, 2010. "Optimal Continuation versus the Timeless Perspective in Monetary Policy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(6), pages 1093-1107, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ijc:ijcjou:y:2015:q:1:a:4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bank for International Settlements (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ijcb.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.