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Unemployment and Monetary Policy in Switzerland

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  • Peter Kugler
  • George Sheldon

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of the monetary policy change of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in 1999 on the Swiss labor market on the basis of a Phillips relationship. Theoretical considerations as well as previous empirical work suggest that the SNB's shift to a more inflation-targeted policy should have increased real-wage flexibility and lowered the NAIRU, the sacrifice ratio, and the level and persistence of inflation in Switzerland. Our results tend to confirm these expectations, although a number of the measured effects are not statistically significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Kugler & George Sheldon, 2010. "Unemployment and Monetary Policy in Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 146(I), pages 185-208, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ses:arsjes:2010-i-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Marc P. Giannoni & Attilio Zanetti, 2010. "Discussion: Unemployment and Monetary Policy in Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 146(I), pages 209-220, March.
    2. Stuart, Rebecca, 2018. "A quarterly Phillips curve for Switzerland using interpolated data, 1963–2016," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 78-86.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inflation targeting; NAIRU; Phillips curve;
    All these keywords.

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

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