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The Risk-Premium Channel of Uncertainty: Implications for Unemployment and Inflation

Author

Listed:
  • Lukas Freund

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Hanbaek Lee

    (University of Tokyo)

  • Pontus Rendahl

    (Copenhagen Business School)

Abstract

This paper studies the role of macroeconomic uncertainty in a search-and-matching framework with risk-averse households. Heightened uncertainty about future productivity reduces current economic activity even in the absence of nominal rigidities. A risk-premium mechanism accounts for this result. As future asset prices become more volatile and covary more positively with aggregate consumption, the risk premium rises in the present. The associated downward pressure on current asset values lowers firm entry, making it harder for workers to find jobs and reducing the supply of goods. With nominal rigidities the recession is exacerbated, as a more uncertain future reinforces households' precautionary behavior, which causes demand to contract. Counterfactual analyses using a calibrated model imply that unemployment would rise by less than half as much absent the risk-premium channel. The presence of this mechanism implies that uncertainty shocks are less deflationary than regular demand shocks, nor can they be fully neutralized by monetary policy. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Lukas Freund & Hanbaek Lee & Pontus Rendahl, 2023. "The Risk-Premium Channel of Uncertainty: Implications for Unemployment and Inflation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 117-137, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:21-230
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2022.12.002
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    2. Maeng, F. S., 2024. "Default, Inflation Expectations, and the Currency Denomination of Sovereign Bonds," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2438, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    3. Oh, Joonseok & Picco, Anna Rogantini, 2024. "Macro uncertainty, unemployment risk, and consumption dynamics," Working Paper Series 2971, European Central Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Uncertainty; unemployment; inflation; search frictions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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