Lorenza Rossi

Calvo vs. Rotemberg in a trend inflation world: An empirical investigation

This paper estimates and compares new-Keynesian DSGE monetary models of the business cycle derived under two different pricing schemes - Calvo, Rotemberg - and a positive trend inflation rate. Our empirical findings (i) support trend inflation-equipped models as better fitting during the U.S. great moderation period, (ii) provide evidence in favor of the statistical superiority of the Calvo setting, and (iii) suggest the absence of price indexation under the Calvo mechanism only. Possibly, the superiority of the Calvo model (against Rotemberg) is due to the restrictions implied by such pricing scheme for the aggregate demand equation. The determinacy regions associated to the two estimated models indicate relevant differences in the implementable simple policies. Our findings call for the development of monetary policy models consistently embedding a positive trend inflation rate and possibly based on a Calvo pricing scheme.

Trend Inflation and Firms Price‐Setting: Rotemberg Versus Calvo

We compare the Calvo and Rotemberg price‐setting mechanisms in a New Keynesian model with trend inflation. We show that: the long‐run relationship between inflation and output is positive in Rotemberg and negative in Calvo; the dynamics of the two models differ even to a first‐order approximation; positive trend inflation enlarges the determinacy region in the Rotemberg model, whereas it shrinks it in the Calvo model; the responses of output and inflation to technology shocks are amplified by trend inflation in Calvo, whereas they are dampened in Rotemberg; the two models imply differing non‐linear adjustments after a disinflation.

Limited Asset Market Participation: Does it Really Matter for Monetary Policy?

We study the design of monetary policy in an economy characterized by staggered wage and price contracts together with limited asset market participation (LAMP). Contrary to previous results, we find that once nominal wage stickiness, an incontrovertible empirical fact, is considered: i) the Taylor Principle is restored as a necessary condition for equilibrium determinacy for any empirically plausible degree of LAMP; ii) the effect of LAMP for the design of optimal monetary policy are minor; iii) optimal interest rate rules become active no matter the degree of asset market participation. For this reasons we argue that LAMP does not matter much for monetary policy.

Union Power, Collective Bargaining, and Optimal Monetary Policy

We study the design of optimal monetary policy (Ramsey policies) in a model with sticky prices and unionized labour markets. Collective wage bargaining and unions monopoly power tend to dampen wage fluctuations and to amplify employment fluctuations relatively to a DNK model with walrasian labour markets. The optimal monetary policy must trade-off counteracting forces. On the one side deviations from zero inflation allow the policy maker to smooth inefficient employment fluctuations. On other side, the presence of wage mark-ups and wage stickiness produce inflationary pressures that require aggressive inflation targeting. Overall we find that the Ramsey planner deviates from full price stability and that an optimal rule targets inflation the real economic activity alongside inflation.

Endogenous Market Structures and Labour Market Dynamics

We propose a flexible prices model where endogenous market structures and search and matching frictions in the labour market interact endogenously. The interplay between firms’ endogenous entry, strategic interactions among producers and labour market frictions represents a strong amplification channel for technology shocks on labour market variables and helps in addressing the unemployment- volatility puzzle. Consistently with US evidence, new firms create a large fraction of new jobs and grow faster than more mature firms, net entry of firms is procyclical and the price mark-up is countercyclical.

Monetary policy, rule-of-thumb consumers and external habits: A G7 comparison

This article extends the standard New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model to agents who cannot smooth consumption (i.e. spenders) and are affected by external consumption habits. Although these assumptions are not new, their joint consideration strongly affects some theoretical and empirical results addressed by the recent literature. By deriving closed-form solutions, we identify different demand regimes and show that they are characterized by specific features regarding dynamic stability and monetary policy effectiveness. We also evaluate our model by stochastic simulations obtained from the Bayesian parameters estimates for the Group of Seven (G7) economies. From posterior impulse responses, we address the empirical relevance of the different regimes and provide comparative evidence on the heterogeneity of monetary policy effects among countries.

New-Keynesian Phillips Curve with Bertrand Competition and Endogenous Entry

We derive a New Keynesian Phillips curve under Calvo staggered pricing and endogenous market structures with Bertrand competition. Both strategic interactions and endogenous business creation strengthen the nominal rigidities. Price adjusters change their prices less when there are more direct competitors that do not adjust, which reduces the slope of the Phillips curve. Current and future firms entering in the markets decrease current inflation because they reduce markups and the welfare-based price index. Endogenous entry amplifies the impact of both monetary and supply shocks. We also characterize the optimal social planner allocation, that can be replicated with a labor subsidy and a dividend tax (both decreasing in the number of firms) and zero producer price inflation. The optimal Ramsey allocation implies zero inflation tax in steady state.

Monetary Policy and Automatic Stabilizers: The Role of Progressive Taxation

We study the effects of progressive labor income taxation in an otherwise standard NK model. We show that progressive taxation (i) introduces a trade-off between output and inflation stabilization and affects the slope of the Phillips Curve; (ii) acts as automatic stabilizer changing the responses of the economy to technology shocks and demand shocks (iii) alters the prescription for the optimal discretionary interest rate rule. We also show that the welfare gains from commitment decrease as labor income taxes become more progressive. Quantitatively, the model is able to reproduce the observed negative correlation between the volatility of output, hours and in?ation and the degree of progressivity of labor income taxation.

Firm Dynamics, Endogenous Markups, And The Labor Share Of Income

Recent U.S. evidence suggests that the response of labor share to a productivity shock is characterized by countercyclicality and overshooting. These findings cannot be reconciled easily with existing business cycle models. We extend the Diamond–Mortensen–Pissarides model of search in the labor market by considering strategic interactions among an endogenous number of producers, which leads to countercyclical price markups. Although Nash bargaining delivers a countercyclical labor share, we show that countercyclical markups are fundamental to address the overshooting. On the contrary, we find that real wage rigidity does not seem to play a crucial role in the dynamics of the labor share of income.

Firm Entry, Endogenous Markups and the Dynamics of the Labor Share of Income

Recent U.S. evidence suggests that the response of labor share to a productivity shock is characterized by countercyclicality and overshooting. These findings cannot be easily reconciled with existing business cycle models. We extend the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides model of search in the labor market by considering strategic interactions among an endogenous number of producers, which leads to countercyclical price markups. While Nash bargaining delivers a countercyclical labor share, we show that countercyclical markups are fundamental to address the overshooting. On the contrary, we find that real wage rigidity does not seem to play a crucial role for the dynamics of the labor share of income.