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Trading down and the business cycle

Author

Listed:
  • Nir Jaimovich
  • Sergio Rebelo
  • Arlene Wong

Abstract

The authors document two facts: First, during recessions consumers trade down in the quality of the goods and services they consume. Second, the production of low-quality goods is less labor intensive than that of high-quality goods. Therefore, when households trade down, labor demand falls, increasing the severity of recessions. The authors find that the trading-down phenomenon accounts for a substantial fraction of the fall in U.S. employment in the recent recession. They study two business cycle models that embed quality choice and find that the presence of quality choice magnifies the response of these economies to real and monetary shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Nir Jaimovich & Sergio Rebelo & Arlene Wong, 2015. "Trading down and the business cycle," FRB Atlanta CQER Working Paper 2015-5, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedacq:15-05
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    recessions; quality choice; business cycles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • E4 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates

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