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Empirical studies of structural changes and inflation

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  • Bank for International Settlements

Abstract

During the 1990s, a number of countries successfully achieved low and stable inflation. Part of the decline reflects the large and negative output gaps in the early 1990s and favourable supply shocks later in the decade. However, inflation has remained relatively subdued as economic conditions have strengthened and some of the supply shocks have reversed. Moreover, actual inflation has remained well below the rates forecast by models based on historical data. This raises the issue of whether the inflation process has undergone structural changes and, if so, which have been the principal forces. There are several plausible reasons why such changes could have occurred. First, due to globalisation and increasing competition in both domestic and international markets, firms' pricing power may have been eroded. Put another way, prices have become more sticky or the inflation process has become more persistent. One result of such changes is that the pass-through of cost increases (including exchange rate changes) into prices has fallen. Moreover, when relative prices evolve more slowly, firms that are subject to menu costs will set prices for longer periods. Second, with inflation in the 1-3% range for some time, inflation expectations may have become more firmly anchored, particularly if the public believes that the monetary authorities will successfully resist any persistent movements of inflation away from this level. This is likely to be the case as many countries have explicitly adopted price stability as the overriding target for monetary policy. Third, increases in productivity growth may have raised the rates at which economies can grow without encountering inflationary pressures. To some extent, this change may appear as a decline in the sensitivity of inflation to measures of the output gap, which tends to be overestimated in such conditions. Another measurement or estimation problem is that higher productivity growth may be an endogenous response to increasing competition and firms' loss of pricing power. To explore these issues further, economists from nine central banks were invited to a workshop, chaired by Lars Heikensten, First Deputy Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, and held at the BIS on 31 October 2000. The papers presented at the workshop and reproduced on the following pages covered various approaches to the issues raised above. While there was a consensus that most of the structural changes involved technological progress and productivity growth, the empirical evidence is not yet firm enough to draw clear lessons for monetary policy.

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  • Bank for International Settlements, 2001. "Empirical studies of structural changes and inflation," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 03.
  • Handle: RePEc:bis:bisbps:03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert J. Gordon, 1998. "Foundations of the Goldilocks Economy: Supply Shocks and the Time-Varying NAIRU," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 29(2), pages 297-346.
    2. George A. Akerlof & William T. Dickens & George L. Perry, 2000. "Near-Rational Wage and Price Setting and the Long-Run Phillips Curve," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 31(1), pages 1-60.
    3. Gruen, David & Pagan, Adrian & Thompson, Christopher, 1999. "The Phillips curve in Australia," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 223-258, October.
    4. Olivier Blanchard & Lawrence F. Katz, 1997. "What We Know and Do Not Know about the Natural Rate of Unemployment," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 51-72, Winter.
    5. Roberts, John M., 1997. "Is inflation sticky?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 173-196, July.
    6. Wallis, Kenneth F, 1989. "Macroeconomic Forecasting: A Survey," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 28-61, March.
    7. Flint Brayton & John M. Roberts & John C. Williams, 1999. "What's happened to the Phillips curve?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1999-49, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
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    1. Bentolila, Samuel & Dolado, Juan J. & Jimeno, Juan F., 2008. "Does immigration affect the Phillips curve? Some evidence for Spain," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(8), pages 1398-1423, November.
    2. Rao, B. Bhaskara & Paradiso, Antonio, 2011. "Time series estimates of the US new Keynesian Phillips curve with structural breaks," MPRA Paper 28413, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Karanassou, Marika & Sala, Hector & Snower, Dennis J., 2008. "Long-run inflation-unemployment dynamics: The Spanish Phillips curve and economic policy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 279-300.
    4. Ana María Tribín-Uribe & Achyuta Adhvaryu & Cesar Anzola-Bravo & Oscar Ávila-Montealegre & Leonardo Bonilla-Mejía & Juan Carlos Castro-Fernández & Luz A. Flórez & Ánderson Grajales-Olarte & Alexander , 2020. "Migración desde Venezuela en Colombia: caracterización del fenómeno y análisis de los efectos macroeconómicos," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, issue 97, pages 1-74, October.
    5. Gerlach, Stefan & Yiu, Matthew S., 2004. "Estimating output gaps in Asia: A cross-country study," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 115-136, March.
    6. Claudio Borio & William English & Andrew Filardo, 2003. "A tale of two perspectives: old or new challenges for monetary policy?," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Monetary policy in a changing environment, volume 19, pages 1-59, Bank for International Settlements.
    7. Gerlach, Stefan & Yiu, Matthew, 2002. "Unobservable-Components Estimates of Output Gaps in Five Asian Economies," CEPR Discussion Papers 3393, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. García-Mainar , Inmaculada & Montuenga-Gómez , Víctor M., 2012. "Wage dynamics in Spain: evidence from individual data (1994-2001)," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 24, pages 41-58.
    9. Luis Fernando Melo & Martha Misas A., 2004. "Modelos Estructurales de Inflación en Colombia: Estimación a Través de Mínimos Cuadrados Flexibles," Borradores de Economia 283, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    10. Marc P. Giannoni & Attilio Zanetti, 2010. "Discussion: Unemployment and Monetary Policy in Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 146(I), pages 209-220, March.
    11. Naoko Hara & Kazuhiro Hiraki & Yoshitaka Ichise, 2015. "Changing Exchange Rate Pass-Through in Japan: Does It Indicate Changing Pricing Behavior?," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 15-E-4, Bank of Japan.

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