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Inflationary Effects of Fiscal Support to Households and Firms

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  • Galina Hale
  • John C. Leer
  • Fernanda Nechio

Abstract

Fiscal support measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic varied in their targeted beneficiaries. Relying on variability across 10 large economies, we study differences in the inflationary effects of fiscal support measures targeting consumers or businesses. Because conventional measures of real activity were distorted, we control for the underlying state of the real economy using households sentiment data. We find that fiscal support measures to consumers, but not firms, had inflationary effects that manifested 5 weeks following the announcement and peaked at 12 weeks. The magnitude of the effect was larger in an environment of improving consumer sentiment.

Suggested Citation

  • Galina Hale & John C. Leer & Fernanda Nechio, 2023. "Inflationary Effects of Fiscal Support to Households and Firms," NBER Working Papers 30906, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30906
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    Cited by:

    1. Cardani, Roberta & Pfeiffer, Philipp & Ratto, Marco & Vogel, Lukas, 2023. "The COVID-19 recession on both sides of the Atlantic: A model-based comparison," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    2. Evi Pappa & Andrey Ramos & Eugenia Vella, 2024. "Which Crisis Support Fiscal Measures Worked During the Covid-19 Shock in Europe?," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 327-348, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes

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