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

Author

Listed:
  • Bart Hobijn
  • Andrea Tanbalotti

    (Research and Statistics Group Federal Reserve Bank of New York)

  • Federico Ravenna

Abstract

Restaurant prices in the euro area saw an unprecedented increase after the introduction of the euro. We use an extension of commonly used models of sticky prices and argue that the increase in restaurant prices can be explained by menu costs. The extension we use involves the state-dependent decision of firms about when to adopt the euro. Two main mechanisms drive the result. First, our model concentrates otherwise staggered price increases around the introduction of the euro. Second, before the adoption of the euro, prices do not reflect marginal cost increases expected to occur after the changeover. This horizon effect disappears as soon as the new currency is adopted, contributing to a jump in prices at that time. For realistic parameter values, the model generates a blip in inflation of the same magnitude observed in the data.
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Suggested Citation

  • Bart Hobijn & Andrea Tanbalotti & Federico Ravenna, 2005. "Menu Costs at Work: Restaurant Prices and the Introduction of the Euro," 2005 Meeting Papers 659, Society for Economic Dynamics.
  • Handle: RePEc:red:sed005:659
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Monopolistic Competition; Sticky Prices; Inflation; Euro.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • L89 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Other

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