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Optimally Sticky Prices

Author

Listed:
  • William (Bill) Zame

    (University of California, Los Angeles)

  • Jean-Paul L'Huillier

    (Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance)

Abstract
We propose a microfoundation for sticky prices. We consider a an environment in which a monopolistic firm has better information than its consumers about the nominal aggregate state. We show that, when many consumers are uninformed (and for some ranges of parameters), it is optimal for the firm to offer contracts/prices that do not depend on the state of the world; i.e. optimal contracts/prices are sticky. We establish this result first in a general mechanism design framework that allows for non-linear pricing and screening, and then show implementation under both contract-setting and price-setting. A virtue of our microfoundation is that it is compatible with a dynamic general equilibrium model with money. We analyze whether money is neutral in this framework, and discuss the implications of this microfounded friction for welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • William (Bill) Zame & Jean-Paul L'Huillier, 2015. "Optimally Sticky Prices," 2015 Meeting Papers 621, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed015:621
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    1. Optimally Sticky Prices
      by Christian Zimmermann in NEP-DGE blog on 2015-09-25 20:05:46

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    Cited by:

    1. Gallin, Joshua & Verbrugge, Randal J., 2019. "A theory of sticky rents: Search and bargaining with incomplete information," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 478-519.

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