The lumpy nature of plant-level investment is generally not taken into account in the context of monetary theory (see, e.g., Christiano et al. 2005 and Woodford 2005). We formulate a generalized (S,s) pricing and investment model which is empirically more plausible along that dimension....

New-Keynesian (NK) models can only account for the dynamic effects of monetary policy shocks if it is assumed that aggregate capital accumulation is much smoother than it would be the case under frictionless firm-level investment, as discussed in Woodford (2003, Ch. 5). We find that lumpy...

What are the consequences for monetary policy design implied by the fact that price setting and investment takes typically place simultaneously at the firm level? To address this question we analyze simple (constrained) optimal interest rate rules in the context of a dynamic New Keynesian model...

We discuss some di?culties in a dynamic New-Keynesian model with staggered price setting à la Calvo and a convex capital adjustment cost at the firm level, as considered by Woodford (2003, Ch. 5). It is shown that the implied simultaneous price setting and investment decision has not been...

We model capital accumulation in a dynamic New-Keynesian model with staggered price setting à la Calvo. It is assumed that firms do not have access to a rental market for capital. We compare our model with an alternative specification where households accumulate capital and rent it to firms....

The paper presents an incomplete competition model (ICM), where inflation is determined jointly with unit labour cost growth. The ICM is estimated on data for the Euro area and evaluated against existing models, i.e. the implicit inflation equation of the Area Wide model (AWM) - cf. Fagan, Henry...

We investigate optimal horizons for targeting inflation in response to different shocks and their properties under alternative preferences of an inflation-targeting central bank. Our analysis is based on a well specified macroeconometric model of Norway, but we examine how alternative...

I provide a generalization of Calvo price setting, to include non-overlapping contracts as a special case and embed this in a small DSGE model. The resulting Generalized Phillips Curve (GPC) nests New-Keynesian and Neoclassical versions. I linearize the model around a potentially non-zero trend...

With sticky prices, optimizing agents and money in the utility function, I derive the exact analytical solution for optimal monetary policy given a zero lower bound (ZLB) on the interest rate. The Phillips curve is Neo-Classical, and the ZLB is then not a constraint on optimal policy. Optimal...

This paper explores the existence of downward real wage rigidity (drwr) in 19 OECD countries, over the period 1973–1999, using data for hourly nominal earnings at industry level. Based on a nonparametric statistical method, which allows for country and year specific variation in both the...