Abstract :
What is the relation between infrequent price adjustment and the dynamic response of the
aggregate price level to monetary shocks? The answer to this question ranges from a one-to-one link
[Calvo, G., 1983. Prices in a utility maximizing framework. Journal of Monetary Economics 12,
383–398] to no connection whatsoever [Caplin, A., Spulber, D., 1987. Menu costs and the neutrality
of money. Quarterly Journal of Economics 102, 703–726]. The purpose of this paper is to provide a
unified framework to understand the mechanisms behind this wide range of results. In doing so, we
propose new interpretations of key results in this area, which in turn suggest the kind of Ss model
that is likely to generate substantial price rigidity. Among these new interpretations, we revisit Caplin
and Spulber’s monetary neutrality result. We show that when price stickiness is measured in terms of
the impulse response function, this result is not a consequence of aggregation, as is often assumed,
but is due instead to the absence of price stickiness at the microeconomic level. We also show that the
‘‘selection effect,’’ according to which units that adjust their prices are those that benefit the most, is
neither necessary nor sufficient to account for the higher aggregate flexibility of Ss-type modelscompared to Calvo models. Instead, the key concept is the contribution of the extensive margin of
adjustment to the aggregate price response. The aggregate price level is more flexible than suggested
by the microeconomic frequency of adjustment if and only if this term is positive.
r 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Keywords :
Aggregate price stickiness , Adjustment hazard , Adjustment frequency , Generalized Ss model , Extensive margin , Calvo model
