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The Curious Incidence of Monetary Policy Across the Income Distribution

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  • Mitman, Kurt
  • Broer, Tobias
  • Kramer, John

Abstract

We use high-frequency administrative data from Germany to study the effects of monetary policy on income and employment across the earnings distribution. Earnings growth at the bottom of the distribution is substantially more elastic to policy shocks. This unequal incidence is driven by differences in the response of employment risk across the distribution: job loss is more countercyclical for lower-earnings households. Viewed through the lens of a standard incomplete-markets model, the heterogeneous incidence substantially amplifies the equilibrium response of aggregate consumption to shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Mitman, Kurt & Broer, Tobias & Kramer, John, 2022. "The Curious Incidence of Monetary Policy Across the Income Distribution," CEPR Discussion Papers 17589, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17589
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    2. Tobias Broer & John V. Kramer & Kurt Mitman, 2025. "The Distributional Effects of Oil Shocks," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 73(3), pages 851-889, September.
    3. Gomes, Sandra & Jacquinot, Pascal & Lozej, Matija, 2025. "A single monetary policy for heterogeneous labour markets: the case of the euro area," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29, pages 1-1, January.
    4. Ampudia, Miguel & Ehrmann, Michael & Strasser, Georg, 2024. "Shopping behavior and the effect of monetary policy on inflation heterogeneity along the income distribution," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    5. Uroš Herman & Matija Lozej, 2023. "Who Gets Jobs Matters: Monetary Policy and the Labour Market in HANK and SAM," AMSE Working Papers 2334, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    6. Marco Del Negro & Ibrahima Diagne & Keshav Dogra & Pranay Gundam & Donggyu Lee & Brian Pacula, 2025. "Tradeoffs for the Poor, Divine Coincidence for the Rich," Staff Reports 1147, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    7. Ampudia, Miguel & Ehrmann, Michael & Strasser, Georg, 2023. "The effect of monetary policy on inflation heterogeneity along the income distribution," CEPR Discussion Papers 18460, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Cristiano Cantore & Filippo Ferroni & Hroon Mumtaz & Angeliki Theophilopoulou, 2022. "A tail of labour supply and a tale of monetary policy," Bank of England working papers 989, Bank of England.
    9. Hubert, Paul & Savignac, Frederique, 2023. "Monetary Policy and Labor Income Inequality: the Role of Extensive and Intensive Margins," CEPR Discussion Papers 18130, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Bertrand Garbinti & Pierre Lamarche & Fredérique Savignac, 2024. "Wealth Heterogeneity and the Marginal Propensity to Consume out of Wealth," Working Papers 2022-02, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    11. Groiss, Martin, 2024. "Equalizing Monetary Policy - the Earnings Heterogeneity Channel in Action," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302346, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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