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Consumer Price Setting in Italy

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Author Info
Silvia Fabiani () (Bank of Italy)
Angela Gattulli () (Bank of Italy)
Roberto Sabbatini () (Bank of Italy)
Giovanni Veronese () (Bank of Italy)
Abstract

This paper investigates the microeconomic behaviour of consumer prices in Italy using the individual price records collected by Istat. We discuss how to analyse price stickiness and we compute a quantitative measure of the unconditional degree of price rigidity. Prices are found to be rather sticky, remaining unchanged on average for around 10 months; price spells last longer for non-energy industrial goods and services, much less for energy products. Prices are revised more frequently upwards than downwards, while the size of price changes is quite symmetric. Price stickiness is less marked in large modern stores than in traditional shops. Price changes are quite synchronized, in particular in the services sector.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University in its journal Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia.

Volume (Year): 65 (2006)
Issue (Month): 1 (May)
Pages: 31-74
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Handle: RePEc:gde:journl:gde_v65_n1_p31-74

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Related research
Keywords: consumer prices; nominal rigidity; frequency of price change;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior
D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - General
E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Hall, Simon & Walsh, Mark & Yates, Anthony, 2000. "Are UK Companies' Prices Sticky?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 425-46, July.
  2. Mark Bils & Peter J. Klenow, 2004. "Some Evidence on the Importance of Sticky Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 947-985, October.
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  3. Cecchetti, Stephen G., 1986. "The frequency of price adjustment : A study of the newsstand prices of magazines," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 255-274, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Fisher, Timothy C. G. & Konieczny, Jerzy D., 2000. "Synchronization of price changes by multiproduct firms: evidence from Canadian newspaper prices," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 271-277, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Aoki, Kosuke, 2001. "Optimal monetary policy responses to relative-price changes," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 55-80, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Cubadda, G. & Sabbatini, R., 1997. "The Seasonality of the Italian Cost-of-Living Index," Papers 313, Banca Italia - Servizio di Studi.
  7. Gali, Jordi & Gertler, Mark, 1999. "Inflation dynamics: A structural econometric analysis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 195-222, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Laurence Ball & N. Gregory Mankiw, 1994. "Asymmetric Price Adjustment and Economic Fluctuations," NBER Working Papers 4089, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Gali, Jordi & Gertler, Mark & Lopez-Salido, J. David, 2001. "European inflation dynamics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1237-1270. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Kashyap, Anil K, 1995. "Sticky Prices: New Evidence from Retail Catalogs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(1), pages 245-74, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Konieczny, Jerzy D. & Skrzypacz, Andrzej, 2005. "Inflation and price setting in a natural experiment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 621-632, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Eyal Baharad & Benjamin Eden, 2004. "Price Rigidity and Price Dispersion: Evidence from Micro Data," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(3), pages 613-641, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Alexander L. Wolman, 2000. "The frequency and costs of individual price adjustments," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Fall, pages 1-22. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Mónica Dias & Daniel Dias & Pedro D. Neves, 2004. "Stylised features of price setting behaviour in Portugal: 1992 - 2001," Working Paper Series 332, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  15. Kiefer, Nicholas M, 1988. "Economic Duration Data and Hazard Functions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 646-79, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Benigno, Pierpaolo, 2004. "Optimal monetary policy in a currency area," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 293-320, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Marvin Goodfriend & Robert King, 1997. "The New Neoclassical Synthesis and the Role of Monetary Policy," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1997, Volume 12, pages 231-296 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Alexander L. Wolman, 1999. "Sticky prices, marginal cost, and the behavior of inflation," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Fall, pages 29-48. [Downloadable!]
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