We assess the importance of nominal rigidities using a new weekly scanner dataset. We find that nominal rigidities take the form of inertia in reference prices and costs, defined as the most common prices and costs within a given quarter. Reference prices are particularly inertial and have an...

Hours worked and the return to working are weakly correlated. Traditionally, the ability to account for this fact has been a litmus test for macroeconomic models. Existing real-business-cycle models fail this test dramatically. The authors modify prototypical real-business-cycle models by...

This paper analyzes the role of variable capital-utilization rates in propagating shocks over the business cycle. The model on which the authors' analysis is based treats variable capital-utilization rates as a form of factor-hoarding. They argue that variable capital-utilization rates are a...