This paper aims to shed light on the dynamics of Brazilian services inflation in the 1999-2014 years. In order to do that, it first identifies all disaggregated components of the Brazilian consumer price index (IPCA) that can be characterized as services. These components are then translated...

The objective of this paper is to present the contributions of different sectors to deviations of the inflation target center from 2000 to 2013, and discuss implications for monetary policy. The contributions are measured by the Inflation Targeting deviation Contribution Index (ITCI), which is...

We construct a unique panel of retail food prices in 69 Canadian and 51 U.S. cities during the Interwar (1920-40) period. Surprisingly, we find that average relative price dispersion across cities within Canada and the U.S., and the role of distance in accounting for cross-city price...

The present paper uses German annual data covering the period 1969-2000 to present evidence on the link between aggregate inflation and the higher-order moments of the distribution of relative price changes. Our empirical findings confirm predictions of contributions to the theoretical...

Much empirical evidence suggests that wage increases do not lead to inflation. This paper demonstrates that a 2-sector dynamic general equilibrium model calibrated to the U.S. economy is able to explain this evidence. We quantify the effect of an increased wage-markup on the inflation rate in...

While the relationship between inflation and relative price variability (RPV) has been widely investigated in developed and emerging market economies because of its direct relevance to monetary policy implementation, research has neglected this linkage in most developing countries especially in...

While the relationship between inflation and relative price variability (RPV) has been widely investigated in developed and emerging market economies because of its direct relevance to monetary policy implementation, research has neglected this linkage in most developing countries especially in...

The worst global downturn since the Great Depression has caused ballooning budget deficits in most nations, as tax revenues collapse and governments bail out financial institutions and attempt countercyclical fiscal policy. With notable exceptions, most economists accept the desirability of...

This study addresses two significant limitations in the literature on cross-country expenditure comparisons: (a) treatment of all countries, large and small, as single entities with no spatial differences inside the countries, and (b) use of Divisia price indices, rather than preference based...

The 2007-09 price shocks affected in particular the prices of food commodities and fuel. As a consequence, Mozambique experienced reduced exports, more expensive imports and increased food and oil prices, contributing to the stagnant poverty rates registered in 2008/9. Our analysis finds, first,...