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Monetary Policy and Inequality: How Does One Affect the Other?

Author

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  • Eunseong Ma

    (Texas A&M University)

Abstract
This study investigates the relation between monetary policy and inequality by asking how one affects the other: the effect of monetary policy on inequality and the impact of the long-run level of inequality on the effectiveness of monetary policy. To this end, I incorporate nominal wage contracts and cash-in-advance constraints into a heterogeneous agent model economy with indivisible labor. I find that expansionary monetary policy reduces income, wealth, and consumption inequalities mainly due to a rise in employment from the bottom of the distributions. There are heterogeneous effects on income across the wealth distribution: in response to an unanticipated monetary easing, households in the bottom of the wealth distribution benefit from an increase in employment while rich households benefit from a rise in the real asset returns in a relative sense. An unexpected monetary expansion also has asymmetric responses of consumption between the poor and the rich: asset-poor households increase their consumption while it falls for wealthy households. This implies that inflation hurts the rich more. I also find that the long-run prevailing levels of inequality matter for the effectiveness of monetary policy by determining the shape of reservation wage distribution. All else being equal, a more equal economy is associated with more effective monetary policy in terms of output. I also provide empirical evidence for this model result using state-level panel data: the effects of monetary policy shocks on output are larger for low-inequality states.

Suggested Citation

  • Eunseong Ma, 2019. "Monetary Policy and Inequality: How Does One Affect the Other?," 2019 Meeting Papers 250, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed019:250
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    Cited by:

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    2. Cho, Daeha & Ma, Eunseong, 2023. "The heterogeneous welfare effects of business cycles," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    3. Jérôme Creel & Mehdi El Herradi, 2024. "Income inequality and monetary policy in the euro area," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 332-355, January.
    4. Mäki-Fränti, Petri & Silvo, Aino & Gulan, Adam & Kilponen, Juha, 2022. "Monetary policy and inequality: The Finnish case," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 3/2022, Bank of Finland.
    5. Evgenidis, Anastasios & Fasianos, Apostolos, 2023. "Modelling monetary policy’s impact on labour markets under Covid-19," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    6. Makram El-Shagi & Steven Yamarik, 2024. "The Effect of Monetary Policy Shocks on Income Inequality across US states," CFDS Discussion Paper Series 2024/4, Center for Financial Development and Stability at Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China.
    7. Capazario, Michele, 2022. "Developing an Income-Distribution- Sensitive Taylor Rule: An Application to South Africa," MPRA Paper 112740, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2023. "Were COVID and the Great Recession Well-being Reducing?," NBER Working Papers 31497, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Masek, Frantisek & Zemlicka, Jan, 2024. "Average inflation targeting: how far to look into the past and the future?," Working Paper Series 2955, European Central Bank.
    10. Hayo, Bernd, 2023. "Does the ECB's monetary policy affect personal finances and economic inequality? A household perspective from Germany," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    11. Emira Arefa Aji & Raditya Sukmana, 2023. "Dual Mone Al Monetary Policy And Income Inequ Y Policy And Income Inequality In Indonesia," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 26(3), pages 539-560, September.
    12. Gerke, Rafael & Giesen, Sebastian & Lozej, Matija & Röttger, Joost, 2024. "On household labour supply in sticky-wage HANK models," Discussion Papers 01/2024, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    13. Domonkos, Tomas & Fisera, Boris & Siranova, Maria, 2023. "Income inequality as long-term conditioning factor of monetary transmission to bank rates," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D52 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Incomplete Markets
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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