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Menu Costs at Work: Restaurant Prices and the Introduction of the Euro

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Author Info
Bart Hobijn
Federico Ravenna
Andrea Tambalotti

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Abstract

Restaurant prices in the euro area increased dramatically after the introduction of the euro. We show that this increase can be explained by a common menu cost model, extended to include a state-dependent decision of firms on when to adopt the new currency. Two mechanisms drive this result. First, firms concentrate otherwise staggered price increases around the changeover. Second, before the adoption of the euro, prices do not reflect the marginal cost increases expected to occur after the changeover. This "horizon effect" disappears as soon as the new currency is adopted, causing a jump in the optimal price. Copyright by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1162/qjec.121.3.1103
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Publisher Info
Article provided by MIT Press in its journal The Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Volume (Year): 121 (2006)
Issue (Month): 3 (08)
Pages: 1103-1131
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Handle: RePEc:tpr:qjecon:v:121:y:2006:i:3:p:1103-1131

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Peter J. Klenow & Oleksiy Kryvtsov, 2005. "State-Dependent or Time-Dependent Pricing: Does it Matter for Recent U.S. Inflation?," NBER Working Papers 11043, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Giancarlo Marini & Fabrizio Adriani & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2003. "The Inflationary Consequences of a Currency Changeover: Evidence from the Michelin Red Guide," CEIS Research Paper 27, Tor Vergata University, CEIS. [Downloadable!]
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  3. 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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  4. Taylor, John B, 1980. "Aggregate Dynamics and Staggered Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(1), pages 1-23, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Mikhail Golosov & Robert E. Lucas, 2003. "Menu Costs and Phillips Curves," NBER Working Papers 10187, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Sbordone, Argia M., 2002. "Prices and unit labor costs: a new test of price stickiness," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 265-292, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Michael Dotsey & Robert G. King & Alexander L. Wolman, 1999. "State-Dependent Pricing And The General Equilibrium Dynamics Of Money And Output," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(2), pages 655-690, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Erwin Diewert, 2002. "Harmonized Indexes of Consumer Prices: their conceptual foundations," Working Paper Series 130, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
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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. Richard Clarida & Jordi Galí & Mark Gertler, 2000. "Monetary Policy Rules And Macroeconomic Stability: Evidence And Some Theory," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(1), pages 147-180, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Cooper, Russell & John, Andrew, 1988. "Coordinating Coordination Failures in Keynesian Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 103(3), pages 441-63, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Patrick Lünnemann & Thomas Y. Mathä, 2004. "How persistent is disaggregate inflation? An analysis across EU15 countries and HICP sub-indices," Working Paper Series 415, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  13. Robert G. King, 2000. "The new IS-LM model : language, logic, and limits," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Sum, pages 45-103. [Downloadable!]
  14. Calvo, Guillermo A., 1983. "Staggered prices in a utility-maximizing framework," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 383-398, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Thomas A. Eife, 2008. "Do Menu Costs Make Prices Sticky?," Working Papers 0477, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2008. [Downloadable!]
  2. Tomás Slacík, . "(How) Will the Euro Affect Inflation in the Czech Republic? A contribution to the current debate," FIW Working Paper series 018, FIW. [Downloadable!]
  3. Eugenio Gaiotti & Francesco Lippi, 2005. "Pricing behavior and the introduction of the euro: evidence from a panel of restaurants," Macroeconomics 0501029, EconWPA, revised 15 Feb 2005. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Patrick Lünnemann & Thomas Y. Mathä, 2005. "Consumer price behaviour in Luxembourg - evidence from micro CPI data," Working Paper Series 541, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Arturo Bris & Augusto Rupérez-Micola, 2008. "Separated by a Common Currency? Evidence from the Euro Changeover," Economics Working Papers 1086, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
  6. Paolo Angelini & Francesco Lippi, 2006. "Did inflation really soar after the euro cash changeover? Indirect evidence from ATM withdrawals," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 581, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Marco G. Ercolani and Jayasri Dutta, 2006. "The Euro-changeoverand Euro-inflation: Evidence from Eurostat's HICP," Discussion Papers 06-03, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham. [Downloadable!]
  8. Fougère, Denis & Gautier, Erwan & Le Bihan, Hervé, 2009. "Restaurant Prices and the Minimum Wage," IZA Discussion Papers 4070, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Robert C. Feenstra, 2007. "Globalization and Its Impact on Labour," Working Papers 44, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw. [Downloadable!]
  10. Fabrizio Adriani & Giancarlo Marini & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2008. "The Inflationary Consequences of a Currency Changeover on the Catering Sector: Evidence from the Michelin Red Guide," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 08/604, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Michael Ehrmann, 2006. "Rational inattention, inflation developments and perceptions after the euro cash changeover," Working Paper Series 588, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  12. Péter Benczúr & István Kónya, 2007. "Convergence, capital accumulation and the nominal exchange rate," MNB Working Papers 2007/2, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (The Central Bank of Hungary). [Downloadable!]
  13. Paolo Angelini & Francesco Lippi, 2007. "Did Prices Really Soar after the Euro Cash Changeover? Evidence from ATM Withdrawals," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 3(4), pages 1-22, December. [Downloadable!]
  14. Alexander L. Wolman, 2007. "The frequency and costs of individual price adjustment," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 531-552. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Thomas Mathä, 2009. "Regional Mc parity: do common pricing points reduce deviations from the law of one price?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 155-166, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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