By placing store-level price data into bivariate Structural VAR models of inflation and relative price asymmetry, this study evaluates the quantitative importance of idiosyncratic pricing shocks in short-run aggregate price change dynamics. Robustly to alternative definitions of the relative...

This paper analyzes price formation and dynamics according to the industry structure. It divides manufacturing industries of Mexico into two groups: perfectly and imperfectly competitive. The results show that imperfectly competitive industries predominate. Then this classification is used to...

This paper develops a model which can explain the hump-shaped impulse response of inflation to a monetary shock. A standard New Keynesian (NK) model is augmented so as to include dynamic externality with sticky wages and variable capital utilization. In our analysis, we assume purely...

How detrimental is inflation to growth in South Africa? At what level? Motivated by the adoption of inflation targeting by many countries, this paper sets out to empirically determine the threshold level of inflation in South Africa. This study adopts quarterly time series data spanning over the...

This paper reports a comparison of South African household inflation expectations and inflation credibility surveys undertaken in 2006 and 2008. The objective is to test for possible feed-through between inflating credibility and inflation expectations. It supplements similar earlier research...

One of the key inputs for inflation targeting regime is the right identification of inflationary or disinflationary pressures. These pressures are usually approximated by the output gap. In this paper we provide an estimation of the Peruvian output gap using a multivariate unobserved component...

Many macroeconomic models involve hybrid equations, in which some variables are a function of both their lags and their expected future value. The hybrid ``New Keynesian'' Phillips Curve is a prominent example. Estimates of such hybrid models have produced conflicting empirical results: Studies...

In this paper we investigate the role of inflation rates in determining economic growth in fifteen sub-Saharan African countries, which are all members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), between 1980 and 2009. The results, based on panel time-series data and analysis, suggest...

In this paper we investigate the role of inflation rates in determining economic growth in fifteen sub-Saharan African countries, which are all members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), between 1980 and 2009. The results, based on panel time-series data and analysis, suggest...

This paper documents some of the main features of price setting behaviour by retail outlets in Lesotho over the period March 2002 to December 2009. The sample of data covers 229 product items for 345 retail outlets. The paper has three main objectives. Firstly, it presents key indicators of...