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Money wage rigidity, monopoly power and hysteresis

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Abstract

The literature that addresses the effects on the level of aggregate demand of changes in the degree of monopoly typically assumes away the existence of an “inflation barrier” and an inflationtargeting central bank. The presence of these two institutional factors entails that any aggregate demand change brought about by changes in the functional distribution of income will tend to be offset by changes in real interest rates. We postulate a simple macroeconomic model for a closed economy with a government sector and hypothesize that a change in the average mark up affects the inflation rate, the “inflation-barrier” and aggregate demand. The model allows for the analysis of the effects on the employment rate of demand and supply shocks when the economy exhibits asymmetric inflation dynamics (AID) and hysteresis effects. Among other results we find that, if the economy exhibits AID and hysteresis, the effect on the employment rate of a change in the mark up is likely to be either ineffectual or counterproductive even if the associated demand shock is expansionary. We also show that an inadequate functional distribution of income may lead to the occurrence of an aggregate demand deficiency problem.

Suggested Citation

  • Alfonso Palacio Vera, 2008. "Money wage rigidity, monopoly power and hysteresis," Documentos de trabajo de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales 08-02, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales.
  • Handle: RePEc:ucm:doctra:08-02
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Neutral interest rate; degree of monopoly; asymmetric inflation dynamics; zero lower bound; hysteresis; reversibility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General

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