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Small and Large Price Changes and the Propagation of Monetary Shocks

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  • Fernando Alvarez
  • Hervé Le Bihan
  • Francesco Lippi
Abstract
We document the presence of both small and large price changes in individual price records from the CPI in France and the US. After correcting for measurement error and cross-section heterogeneity, the size-distribution of price changes has a positive excess kurtosis. We propose an analytical menu cost model that encompasses several classic models, as Taylor (1980), Calvo (1983), Reis (2006), Golosov and Lucas (2007) and accounts for observed cross-sectional patterns. We show that the ratio of kurtosis to the frequency of price changes is a sufficient statistics for the real effects of monetary policy in a large class of models.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernando Alvarez & Hervé Le Bihan & Francesco Lippi, 2014. "Small and Large Price Changes and the Propagation of Monetary Shocks," NBER Working Papers 20155, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20155
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    Cited by:

    1. Carvalho, Carlos & Schwartzman, Felipe, 2015. "Selection and monetary non-neutrality in time-dependent pricing models," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 141-156.
    2. Chen Yeh & David Argente, 2016. "A Menu Cost Model with Price Experimentation," 2016 Meeting Papers 1515, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Roldan-Blanco, Pau & Gilbukh, Sonia, 2021. "Firm dynamics and pricing under customer capital accumulation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 99-119.
    4. Fernando Alvarez & Francesco Lippi, 2016. "Price plans and the real effects of monetary policy," 2016 Meeting Papers 549, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    5. Berger, David & Vavra, Joseph, 2018. "Dynamics of the U.S. price distribution," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 60-82.
    6. Isaac Baley & J. Andrés Blanco, 2016. "Menu costs, uncertainty cycles, and the propagation of nominal shocks," Economics Working Papers 1532, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    7. Paulie, Charlotte, 2019. "Does Inflation Targeting Reduce the Dispersion of Price Setters’ Inflation Expectations?," Working Paper Series 2018:16, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    8. William (Bill) Zame & Jean-Paul L'Huillier, 2015. "Optimally Sticky Prices," 2015 Meeting Papers 621, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    9. Jacopo Magnani & Aspen Gorry & Ryan Oprea, 2016. "Time and State Dependence in an Ss Decision Experiment," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 285-310, January.
    10. Peter Karadi & Adam Reiff, 2019. "Menu Costs, Aggregate Fluctuations, and Large Shocks," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 111-146, July.
    11. Amlendu Dubey & Juhi Lohani, 2022. "Inflation targeting and price behaviour: evidence from India," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 265-284, December.
    12. Paulie, Charlotte, 2019. "Does Inflation Targeting Reduce the Dispersion of Price Setters’ Inflation Expectations?," Working Paper Series 370, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    13. Donayre, Luiggi & Panovska, Irina, 2016. "State-dependent exchange rate pass-through behavior," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 170-195.
    14. Peng Zhou & Huw Dixon, 2019. "The Determinants of Price Rigidity in the UK: Analysis of the CPI and PPI Microdata and Application to Macrodata Modelling," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 87(5), pages 640-677, September.

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