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Designing Indexed Units of Account

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Author Info
Robert J. Shiller

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Abstract

An indexed unit of account is a unit of measurement defined using an index such as a consumer price index so that prices defined in terms of these units will automatically adjust to changing economic conditions. Evidence on sticky prices and money illusion, and evidence from countries (notably Chile) that have created indexed units of account, suggests that creating such units is an important policy option for governments in countries with unstable price levels. A model is given that shows the dynamics of money prices when prices are expressed in the units. Results from the model suggest some design elements for an indexed unit of account: institutions to promote broad use of the unit for pricing, and a formal policy to increase the frequency of index computation when the price level becomes more volatile.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 7160.

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Date of creation: Jun 1999
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7160

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E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System

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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. Shafir, Eldar & Diamond, Peter & Tversky, Amos, 1997. "Money Illusion," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(2), pages 341-74, May.
  2. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Kiyotaki, Nobuhiro, 1987. "Monopolistic Competition and the Effects of Aggregate Demand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 647-66, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Robert J. Shiller, 1998. "Indexed Units of Account: Theory and Assessment of Historical Experience," NBER Working Papers 6356, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. George A. Akerlof & William R. Dickens & George L. Perry, 1996. "The Macroeconomics of Low Inflation," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 27(1996-1), pages 1-76. [Downloadable!]
  5. Robert E. Hall, 1983. "Explorations in the Gold Standard and Related Policies for Stabilizing the Dollar," NBER Reprints 0416, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. Ball, Laurence & Mankiw, N Gregory, 1995. "Relative-Price Changes as Aggregate Supply Shocks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(1), pages 161-93, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Stanley Fischer & Franco Modigliani, 1978. "Towards an understanding of the real effects and costs of inflation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 114(4), pages 810-833, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Shiller, R.J. & Schneider, R., 1995. "Labor Income Indices Designed for Use in Contracts Promoting Income Risk Management," Papers 730, Yale - Economic Growth Center.
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  10. Bewley, Truman F, 1995. "A Depressed Labor Market as Explained by Participants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 250-54, May. [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. Edgardo Barandiarán, 2000. "Chile Después del Peso: Viviendo con el Dólar," Cuadernos de Economía (Latin American Journal of Economics), Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 37(110), pages 241-267. [Downloadable!]
  2. Olivier Blanchard, 2000. "What do we know about Macroeconomics that Fisher and Wicksell did not?," NBER Working Papers 7550, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Robert Hall, 2002. "Controlling the Price Level," Contributions to Macroeconomics, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 2(1), pages 1038-1038. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Jan Overgaard Olesen, . "A Simple Explanation of Stock Price Behavior in the Long Run: Evidence for Denmark," EPRU Working Paper Series 00-09, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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