We consider a model with frictional unemployment and staggered wage bargaining where hours worked are negotiated every period. The workers' bargaining power in the hours negotiation affects both unemployment volatility and inflation persistence. The closer to zero this parameter, (i) the more...

In this paper we analyse a new Phillips curve (NPC) model and demonstrate that (i) frictional growth, i.e. the interplay of wage-staggering and money growth, generates a nonvertical NPC in the long-run, and (ii) the Phillips curve (PC) shifts with productivity growth. On this basis we estimate a...

We present a new partial equilibrium theory of price adjustment, based on consumer loss aversion. In line with prospect theory, the consumers' perceived utility losses from price increases are weighted more heavily than the perceived utility gains from price decreases of equal magnitude. Price...

Traditionally, models of economic decision-making assume that individuals are rational and emotionless. This chapter argues that the neglect of emotion in economic models explains their inability to predict important aspects of the labor market. We focus on one example: the scarcity of nominal...

Using simple statistical methods, this note examines the relationship between expected and actual inflation and the importance of inflation expectations in driving actual inflation in Asia. We find that, in Asia, short-term inflation expectations tend to co-move among economies while...

This paper summarises ongoing work that investigates the pass-through from shorthorizon and long-horizon inflation forecasts as a way to assess the anchoring of inflation expectations across a sample of 44 economies. It reports an overall decline in the pass-through, with the share of economies...

Using a large panel of firm survey data from Japan (Tankan survey), we provide micro evidence of strategic complementarity in firms' price setting. We find that a firm's price adjustment is affected by its competitors' pricing behaviour and that this adjustment is larger when the firm is...

Acting in parallel with changes in Thailand's inflation dynamics, the fall in inflation and inflation variability is a worldwide phenomenon that has coincided with accelerating globalisation. This paper explains that global factors have played an important role in changing the dynamics of...

This note identifies supply factors, particularly the exchange rate, as key drivers of inflation in South Africa. Demand factors play a negligible role, with a flat Phillips curve apparent since the inception of the country's inflation targeting regime. The Phillips curve flattened further with...

This country note discusses measures of inflation used in monetary policy formulation in Singapore, and assesses the relative influence of global and regional factors in determining domestic inflation dynamics. It is found that the regional factor has grow n in importance as a source of external...