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Resurrecting the Role of the Product Market Wedge in Recessions

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  • Mark Bils
  • Peter J. Klenow
  • Benjamin A. Malin

Abstract

Employment and hours are more cyclical than dictated by productivity and consumption. This intratemporal labor wedge can arise from product or labor market distortions. Based on employee wages, the literature has attributed the intratemporal wedge almost entirely to labor market distortions. Because wages may be smoothed versions of labor's true cyclical price, we instead examine the self-employed and intermediate inputs, respectively. For recent decades in the United States, we find price markup movements are at least as cyclical as wage markup movements. Thus, countercyclical price markups deserve a central place in business-cycle research, alongside sticky wages and matching frictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Bils & Peter J. Klenow & Benjamin A. Malin, 2018. "Resurrecting the Role of the Product Market Wedge in Recessions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 1118-1146, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:108:y:2018:i:4-5:p:1118-46
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20151260
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    More about this item

    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
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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