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From the Great Inflation to the Great Moderation: Assessing the Roles of Firm-Specific Labor, Sticky Prices and Labor Supply Shocks

Author

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  • Maher Khaznaji
  • Louis Phaneuf

Abstract

We develop and estimate a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model that features sticky prices, a variable elasticity of demand facing firms and firm-specific labor. While reconciling to a good extent the micro and macro evidence on the behavior of prices, the model offers an accurate account of the dramatic increase in macroeconomic stability from the Great Inflation (1948:1-1979:II) to the Great Moderation (1984:I-2006:II). Reminiscent of the evidence in Shapiro and Watson (1988), the paper shows that labor-supply shocks are the key source of the reduction in the volatility of output growth, followed by investment-specific shocks. However, changes in the behavior of the private sector, a less accommodative monetary policy and smaller shocks explain almost evenly the large decline of the variability in inflation.

Suggested Citation

  • Maher Khaznaji & Louis Phaneuf, 2008. "From the Great Inflation to the Great Moderation: Assessing the Roles of Firm-Specific Labor, Sticky Prices and Labor Supply Shocks," Cahiers de recherche 0812, CIRPEE.
    • Handle: RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0812
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    File URL: http://www.cirpee.org/fileadmin/documents/Cahiers_2008/CIRPEE08-12.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sylvain Leduc & Keith Sill, 2007. "Monetary Policy, Oil Shocks, and TFP: Accounting for the Decline in U.S. Volatility," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 10(4), pages 595-614, October.
    2. Olivier Blanchard & John Simon, 2001. "The Long and Large Decline in U.S. Output Volatility," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 32(1), pages 135-174.
    3. Athanasios Orphanides & John C. Williams, 2002. "Robust Monetary Policy Rules with Unknown Natural Rates," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 33(2), pages 63-146.
    4. Rochelle M. Edge, 2002. "The Equivalence of Wage and Price Staggering in Monetary Business Cycle Models," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 5(3), pages 559-585, July.
    5. Klein, Paul, 2000. "Using the generalized Schur form to solve a multivariate linear rational expectations model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 24(10), pages 1405-1423, September.
    6. Greenwood, Jeremy & Hercowitz, Zvi & Huffman, Gregory W, 1988. "Investment, Capacity Utilization, and the Real Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(3), pages 402-417, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jambu, Marc-Antoine, 2010. "Has the Globalisation really generated more competition in OECD economies," MPRA Paper 19974, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great moderation; firm-specific labor; variable demand elasticity; nominal price rigidity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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