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Temporal Distribution of Price Changes : Staggering in the Large and Synchronization in the Small

Author

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  • Emmanuel Dhyne

    (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department
    Centre de Recherche Warocqué, Université de Mons-Hainaut)

  • Jerzy Konieczny

    (Department of Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ont., Canada)

Abstract

Temporal distribution of individual price changes is of crucial importance for business cycle theory and for the micro-foundations 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 aggregate the data, the closer the distribution to perfect staggering. This result holds for both aggregation across goods and across locations. Our results provide support for Bhaskar’s (2002) model of synchronized adjustment within, and staggered adjustment across, industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Emmanuel Dhyne & Jerzy Konieczny, 2007. "Temporal Distribution of Price Changes : Staggering in the Large and Synchronization in the Small," Working Paper Research 116, National Bank of Belgium.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbb:reswpp:200706-02
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    Cited by:

    1. D. Cornille & M. Dossche, 2006. "The Patterns and Determinants of Price Setting in the Belgian Industry," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 06/386, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    2. Fernando Alvarez & Francesco Lippi, 2014. "Price Setting With Menu Cost for Multiproduct Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(1), pages 89-135, January.
    3. Johan Söderberg, 2013. "Nonuniform Staggered Prices and Output Persistence," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(6), pages 1017-1044, September.
    4. Emmanuel Dhyne & Jerzy Konieczny & Fabio Rumler & Patrick Sevestre, 2009. "Price rigidity in the euro area - An assessment," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 380, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    5. Ray, Sourav & Wang, Li & Levy, Daniel & Bergen, Mark, 2019. "Pricing Better," MPRA Paper 95654, University Library of Munich, Germany.
      • Sourav Ray & Li Wang & Daniel Levy & Mark Bergen, 2019. "Pricing Better," Working Paper series 19-16, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
      • Ray, Sourav & Wang, Li & Levy, Daniel & Bergen, Mark, 2019. "Pricing Better," MPRA Paper 95596, University Library of Munich, Germany.
      • Daniel Levy & Sourav Ray & Li Wang & Mark Bergen, 2019. "Pricing Better," Working Papers 008-19 JEL Codes: M31, E3, International School of Economics at TSU, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.
      • Ray, Sourav & Wang, Li & Levy, Daniel & Bergen, Mark, 2019. "Pricing Better," EconStor Preprints 201843, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
      • Daniel Levy & Mark Bergen, 2019. "Pricing Better," Working Papers 2019-07, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    6. M. Utku Ozmen & Orhun Sevinc, 2012. "Mikro Verilerinden Yuksek Frekansli Fiyat Katiligi ve Enflasyon Egilimi Gostergeleri," CBT Research Notes in Economics 1217, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.
    7. Bhattarai, Saroj & Schoenle, Raphael, 2014. "Multiproduct firms and price-setting: Theory and evidence from U.S. producer prices," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 178-192.
    8. Fernando Alvarez & Francesco Lippi, 2010. "A note on price adjustment with menu cost for multi-product firms," EIEF Working Papers Series 1018, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), revised Dec 2010.
    9. Olivier Coibion & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Johannes Wieland, 2012. "The Optimal Inflation Rate in New Keynesian Models: Should Central Banks Raise Their Inflation Targets in Light of the Zero Lower Bound?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(4), pages 1371-1406.
    10. Kopp, Thomas, 2017. "Bertrand Competition in Oligopsonistic Market Structures - the Case of the Indonesian Rubber Processing Sector," 57th Annual Conference, Weihenstephan, Germany, September 13-15, 2017 261980, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    11. Hoffmann, A. & Loy, J.-P., 2010. "Sonderangebote und Preissynchronisation im deutschen Lebensmitteleinzelhandel," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 45, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    staggering; synchronization; aggregation; price setting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

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