OxTalks is Changing
During Michaelmas Term, OxTalks will be moving to a new platform (full details are available on the Staff Gateway).
For now, continue using the current page and event submission process (freeze period dates to be advised).
If you have any questions, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
Consumers’ Price Beliefs, Central Bank Communication, and Inflation Dynamics
Many developed economies in recent years have been characterized by a tight labor market and a low inflation environment, a phenomenon referred to as missing inflation. To explain this phenomenon, we develop a dispersed information model in which consumers’ search for cheaper prices affects firms pricing behavior. The model shows that firms are reluctant to pass through cost increases because they fear a disproportionate decline in their sales. A history of low and stable inflation amplifies this effect by decreasing consumers’ inflation beliefs. In this case, enhancement of the central bank’s communication regarding its inflation target more firmly anchors consumers’ inflation beliefs and makes the Phillips curve flatter, while enhancement of the central bank’s communication about the current aggregate price level has the opposite effect.
Link to paper: www.boj.or.jp/en/research/wps_rev/wps_2019/data/wp19e14.pdf
Date:
20 October 2020, 13:00
Venue:
Held on Zoom
Speaker:
Kosuke Aoki (University of Tokyo)
Organising department:
Department of Economics
Part of:
Macroeconomics Seminar
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Melis Clark
