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Aggregate shocks or aggregate information? costly information and business cycle comovement

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  • Laura Veldkamp
  • Justin Wolfers

Abstract

When similar patterns of expansion and contraction are observed across sectors, we call this a business cycle. Yet explaining the similarity and synchronization of these cycles across industries remains a puzzle. Whereas output growth across industries is highly correlated, identifiable shocks, like shocks to productivity, are far less correlated. While previous work has examined complementarities in production, we propose that sectors make similar input decisions because of complementarities in information acquisition. Because information about driving forces has a high fixed cost of production and a low marginal cost of replication, it can be more efficient for firms to share the cost of discovering common shocks than to invest in uncovering detailed sectoral information. Firms basing their decisions on this common information make highly correlated production choices. This mechanism amplifies the effects of common shocks, relative to sectoral shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Veldkamp & Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Aggregate shocks or aggregate information? costly information and business cycle comovement," Working Paper Series 2006-26, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedfwp:2006-26
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business cycles;

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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