Open Access
Wage stickiness and unemployment fluctuations: an alternative approach
(2009) Casares Polo, Miguel; Moreno Pérez, Antonio; Vázquez, Jesús; Economía; Ekonomia
Erceg, Henderson and Levin (2000, Journal of Monetary Economics) introduce sticky wages in a New-Keynesian general-equilibrium model. Alternatively, it is shown here how wage stickiness may bring unemployment fluctuations into a New-Keynesian model. Using Bayesian econometric techniques, both models are estimated with U.S. quarterly data of the Great Moderation. Estimation results are similar and provide a good empirical fit with the crucial difference that our proposal delivers unemployment fluctuations. Thus, second-moment statistics of U.S. unemployment are replicated reasonably well in our proposed New-Keynesian model with sticky wages. In the welfare analysis, the cost of cyclical fluctuations during the Great Moderation is estimated at 0.60% of steady-state consumption.
Open Access
Wage setting actors, sticky wages, and optimal monetary policy
(2007) Casares Polo, Miguel; Economía; Ekonomia
Following Erceg et al. (2000), sticky wages are generally modelled assuming that households set wage contracts à la Calvo (1983). This paper compares that sticky-wage model with one where wage contracts are set by firms, assuming flexible prices in any case. The key variable for wage dynamics moves from the marginal rate of substitution (households set wages) to the marginal product of labor (firms set wages). Optimal monetary policy in both cases fully stabilizes wage inflation and the output gap after technology or preference innovations. However, nominal shocks make the assumption on who set wages relevant for optimal monetary policy.
Open Access
The timing and intensity of social distancing to flatten the COVID-19 curve: the case of Spain
(MDPI, 2020) Casares Polo, Miguel; Khan, Hashmat; Ekonomia; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Economía
The continued spread of COVID-19 suggests a significant possibility of reimposing the lockdowns and stricter social distancing similar to the early phase of pandemic control. We present a dynamic model to quantify the impact of isolation for the contagion curves. The model is calibrated to the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain to study the effects of the isolation enforcement following the declaration of the state of alarm (14 March 2020). The simulations indicate that both the timing and the intensity of the isolation enforcement are crucial for the COVID-19 spread. For example, a 4-day earlier intervention for social distancing would have reduced the number of COVID-19 infected people by 67%. The model also informs us that the isolation enforcement does not delay the peak day of the epidemic but slows down its end. When relaxing social distancing, a reduction of the contagion probability (with the generalization of preventive actions, such as face mask wearing and hands sanitizing) is needed to overcome the effect of a rise in the number of interpersonal encounters. We report a threshold level for the contagion pace to avoid a second COVID-19 outbreak in Spain.
Open Access
Why are labor markets in Spain and Germany so different?
(2016) Casares Polo, Miguel; Vázquez, Jesús; Economía; Ekonomia
The volatility of unemployment fluctuations has been about 3 times higher in Spain than in Germany over the recent business cycles (1996-2013). In contrast, fluctuations of the rate of wage inflation were significantly more volatile in Germany than in Spain. We estimate a New-Keynesian model and find several explanatory factors: wage rigidity has been higher in Spain, the labor force has been more elastic in Germany than in Spain, large and persistent shocks augmenting the labor force have been estimated for Spain whereas in Germany there have been substantial shocks reducing the intensity of hours per worker, and the ECB’s policy design brought monetary shocks with much greater influence to the Spanish unemployment.
Open Access
On staggered prices and optimal inflation
(Elsevier, 2019) Aguilera Bravo, Asier; Casares Polo, Miguel; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
This paper computes the steady-state optimal rate of inflation in a model with monopolistic competition under two different sticky-price specifications, Calvo (1983) and Taylor (1980).The optimal rate of inflation is positive and almost identical to the ratio between the rate of discount and the Dixit-Stiglitzelasticity.
Open Access
Entry and exit in recent US business cycles
(2015) Casares Polo, Miguel; Economía; Ekonomia
I show evidence indicating that the variability of the total number of business units (establishments) has significantly increased in recent US business cycles, accounting for nearly 2/3 of real GDP fluctuations during the 2003-2012 decade. Next, I examine the role of business creation and destruction in an estimated DSGE-style model extended with endogenous entry and exit. Shocks on both entry and, especially, exit have played a crucial role on explaining the latest boom-bust cycle in the US economy. I also find that the estimated innovations of total factor productivity are positive and high in 2010-2012, which might be the consequence of the dramatic increase in the exit rates observed during the recession of 2008-2009.
Open Access
Business cycle and monetary policy analysis in a structural sticky price model of the euro area
(2001) Casares Polo, Miguel; Economía; Ekonomia
Structural models are a powerful tool for business cycle and monetary policy analysis because they are assumed to be invariant to either policy changes or external shocks. In this paper, we derive a neoclassical monetary model in which both the demand and supply side are structural in the sense that the behavioral equations obtained are rigorously calculated from optimizing decisions of the individuals. Moreover, we introduce price stickiness on the supply side decisions so as to have relevant short-run real effects of monetary policy through the real interest rate channel. The resulting medium-size model will be calibrated and estimated for the euro area economies. As two examples of the applications of the model for the euro area, some simulations on business cycle and monetary policy analysis will be carried out.
Embargo
On staggered prices and optimal inflation
(2019) Aguilera Bravo, Asier; Casares Polo, Miguel; Ekonomia; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Economía; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
This paper computes the steady-state optimal rate of inflation assuming two different sticky-price specifications, Calvo (1983) and Taylor (1980), in a model with monopolistic competition. The optimal rate of inflation in steady state is always positive. This result is robust to changes in the degree of price stickiness. In both cases of staggered prices, the optimal rate of inflation is approximately equal to the ratio between the rate of discount and the Dixit-Stiglitz elasticity.
Open Access
The great moderation of inflation: a structural analysis of recent U.S. monetary business cycles
(2012) Casares Polo, Miguel; Vázquez, Jesús; Economía; Ekonomia
U.S. inflation has experienced a great moderation in the last two decades. This paper examines the factors behind this and other stylized facts, such as the weaker correlation of inflation and nominal interest rate (Gibson paradox). Our findings point at lower exogenous variability of supply-side shocks and, to a lower extent, structural changes in money demand, monetary policy, and firms’ sticky pricing behavior as the main driving forces of the changes observed in recent U.S. business cycles.
Open Access
Short run and long run effects of banking in a New Keynesian model
(2010) Casares Polo, Miguel; Poutineau, Jean-Christophe; Economía; Ekonomia
This paper introduces both endogenous capital accumulation and deposit-in-advance requirements for investment in the banking model of Goodfriend and McCallum (2007). Impulse response functions from technology and monetary shocks show some attenuation effect due to the procyclical behavior of the marginal finance cost. In addition, an adverse financial shock produces sizeable declines in output, inflation and interest rates. In the long-run analysis, we find the following effects of banking intermediation: (i) the stock of capital increases to take advantage of its collateral services, and (ii) consumption and labor fall in response to the finance cost attached to purchases of goods. Using the baseline calibrated model, we show how a 10% increase in banking efficiency would result in a permanent welfare gain equivalent to 0.3% of output.