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Aggregation And The Staggering Of Price Changes

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  • EMMANUEL DHYNE
  • JERZY KONIECZNY

Abstract

type="main" xml:lang="en"> Temporal distribution of individual price changes is of crucial importance for business cycle theory and for the microfoundations of price adjustment. While it is routinely assumed that price changes are staggered over time, both theory and evidence are ambiguous. We use a large Belgian data set to analyze whether price changes are staggered or synchronized. We find that the more aggregated are the data, the closer is the distribution to perfect staggering. The results hold both for aggregation across products, and across locations. They are consistent with an economy in which idiosyncratic shocks are the main cause of price changes. (JEL E30, E31, D40)

Suggested Citation

  • Emmanuel Dhyne & Jerzy Konieczny, 2014. "Aggregation And The Staggering Of Price Changes," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(2), pages 732-756, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:52:y:2014:i:2:p:732-756
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecin.12072
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    1. Wu, Zhang & Chong, Terence Tai-Leung, 2019. "Price rigidity in China: Empirical results at home and abroad," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 218-235.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General

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