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Cyclical inflation divergence and different labor market institutions in the EMU

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  • Faia, Ester
  • Campolmi, Alessia

Abstract

This paper relates the size of the cyclical inflation differentials, currently observed for euro area countries, to the differences in labor market institutions across the same set of countries. It does that by using a DSGE model for a currency area with sticky prices and labor market frictions. We show that differences in labor market institutions account well for cyclical inflation differentials. The proposed mechanism is a supply side one in which differences in labor market institutions generate different dynamics in real wages and consequently in marginal costs and inflations. We test this mechanism in the data and find that the model replicates well the empirical facts. JEL Classification: E52, E24

Suggested Citation

  • Faia, Ester & Campolmi, Alessia, 2006. "Cyclical inflation divergence and different labor market institutions in the EMU," Working Paper Series 619, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:2006619
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    Cited by:

    1. Gnocchi, Stefano & Lagerborg, Andresa & Pappa, Evi, 2015. "Do labor market institutions matter for business cycles?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 299-317.
    2. Annabelle Mourougane & Lukas Vogel, 2009. "Speed of Adjustment to Selected Labour Market and Tax Reforms," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 51(4), pages 500-519, December.
    3. Pappa, Evi & Brückner, Markus, 2010. "Fiscal expansions affect unemployment, but they may increase it," CEPR Discussion Papers 7766, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Proaño, Christian R., 2012. "Gradual wage-price adjustments, labor market frictions and monetary policy rules," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 220-235.
    5. Raquel Fonseca & Lise Patureau & Thepthida Sopraseuth, 2009. "Divergence in Labor Market Institutions and International Business Cycles," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 95-96, pages 279-314.
    6. Vitale, Paolo, 2006. "A market microstructure analysis of foreign exchange intervention," Working Paper Series 629, European Central Bank.
    7. Mirko Abbritti; Sebastian Weber, 2008. "Labor Market Rigidities and the Business Cycle: Price vs. Quantity Restricting Institutions," IHEID Working Papers 01-2008, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies, revised Jan 2008.
    8. Fabio Rumler & Johann Scharler, 2011. "Labor Market Institutions And Macroeconomic Volatility In A Panel Of Oecd Countries," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(3), pages 396-413, July.
    9. Ulrich Fritsche & Vladimir Kuzin, 2007. "Unit labor cost growth differentials in the Euro area, Germany, and the US: lessons from PANIC and cluster analysis," Macroeconomics and Finance Series 200703, University of Hamburg, Department of Socioeconomics.
    10. Ulrich Fritsche & Vladimir Kuzin, 2011. "Analysing convergence in Europe using the non-linear single factor model," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 343-369, October.
    11. Jordan Roulleau-Pasdeloup & Anastasia Zhutova, 2015. "Labor Market Policies and the "Missing Deflation" Puzzle: Lessons from Hoover Policies during the U.S Great Depression," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 15.05, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    12. Stefano Gnocchi & Evi Pappa, "undated". "Do labor market rigidities matter for business cycles? Yes they do," Working Papers 411, Barcelona School of Economics.
    13. Patureau, Lise, 2012. "Labor market frictions and the international propagation mechanism," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 199-222.
    14. Cavallero, Alessandro, 2011. "The convergence of inflation rates in the EU-12 area: A distribution dynamics approach," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 341-357, June.
    15. Rahul Anand & Purva Khera, 2016. "Macroeconomic Impact of Product and Labor Market Reforms on Informality and Unemployment in India," IMF Working Papers 2016/047, International Monetary Fund.
    16. Lieb, L.M., 2009. "Taking real rigidities seriously: implications for optimal policy design in a currency union," Research Memorandum 032, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    17. Mirko Abbritti, 2007. "A "Simple" Currency Union Model with Labor Market Frictions, Real Wage Rigidities and Equilibrium Unemployment," IHEID Working Papers 09-2007, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    18. Raquel Fonseca & Lise Patureau & Thepthida Sopraseuth, 2009. "Divergence in Labor Market Institutions and International Business Cycles," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, pages 279-314.
    19. Sebastian Dullien & Ulrich Fritsche, 2007. "Does the Dispersion of Unit Labor Cost Dynamics in the EMU Imply Long-Run Divergence?: Results from a Comparison with the United States of America and Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 674, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    20. Sebastian Dullien & Ulrich Fritsche, 2008. "Does the dispersion of unit labor cost dynamics in the EMU imply long-run divergence?," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 269-295, November.
    21. Raquel Fonseca & Lise Patureau & Thepthida Sopraseuth, 2010. "Business Cycle Comovement and Labor Market Institutions: An Empirical Investigation," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, pages 865-881.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    cyclical inflation divergence; EMU; labor market institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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