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Pigouvian Cycles

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  • Renato Faccini
  • Leonardo Melosi

Abstract

Current and expected unemployment rates contain information that is highly useful to estimate the effect of news about TFP and to allow a general equilibrium rational expectations model to generate Pigouvian cycles: a large fraction of the comovement of output, consumption, investment, employment, and real wages is explained by noise about TFP. These results emerge because of the low-frequency negative relationship between unemployment and TFP growth. The model predicts that the start (end) of most US recessions is associated with agents realizing that previous enthusiastic (lukewarm) expectations about future TFP would not be met.

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  • Renato Faccini & Leonardo Melosi, 2022. "Pigouvian Cycles," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 281-318, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:14:y:2022:i:2:p:281-318
    DOI: 10.1257/mac.20190467
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    Cited by:

    1. Ryan Chahrour & Sanjay K. Chugh & Tristan Potter, 2023. "Anticipated productivity and the labor market," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 14(3), pages 897-934, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • 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
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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