Our answer: not so well. We reach that conclusion after reviewing recent research on the role of technology as a source of economic fluctuations. The bulk of the evidence suggests a limited role for aggregate technology shocks, pointing instead to demand factors as the main force behind the...

This paper investigates the basic stylized facts of business cycles in the G7 countries using quarterly data from 1960-89. The methodology used is based on Kydland and Prescott (1990). The evidence suggests that the real business cycles model can account for several important stylized facts for...

The present paper revisits a property embedded in most dynamic macroeconomic models: the stationarity of hours worked. First, I argue that, contrary to what is often believed, there are many reasons why hours could be non-stationary in those models, while preserving the property of balanced...

We develop and analyse a real business cycle model in which both goods and labour markets are characterized by imperfect competition. In equilibrium, unemployment emerges as the result of the market power exercised by insiders at the firm level. We show that a calibrated version of the model is...

We build a general equilibrium macroeconomic model of a transitional economy to reflect five stylized facts. Among these are that central planning has left a legacy of highly concentrated industry and a residue of price controls and rationing. An `almost Classical' dichotomy obtains in the...

This paper is based on presentation given at the June 2011 Conference of the Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research at the University of Manchester. It reviews key features of the 2007-08 financial crisis, the subsequent 'great recession' and the European public debt problems; in the...

This paper surveys the use of search and matching models in macroeconomics. It outlines the standard model, discusses its extensions, presents alternative formulations, considers the empirical evidence, and studies applications to macroeconomic questions such as business cycles, growth, and...

We use exogenous variation in the degree of restrictions to bank competition across Italian provinces to study both the effects of bank regulation and the impact of deregulation. We find that where entry was more restricted the cost of credit was higher and - contrary to expectations- access to...

This survey outlines the general lessons of the recent literature on imperfectly competitive macroeconomies for the theory of monetary and fiscal policy. A general framework is presented which encompasses most of the existing literature. Although money is of itself neutral in these models, the...

We study a production economy with multiple sectors financed by issuing securities to agents who face capital constraints. Binding capital constraints propagate business cycles, and a reduction of the interest rate can increase the required return of high-haircut assets since it can increase the...