Heterogeneous Expectations, Learning and European Inflation Dynamics
Heterogeneous Expectations, Learning and European Inflation Dynamics

Author: Anke Weber

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 45

ISBN-13: 9783865583130

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This paper is the first attempt to investigate the performance of different learning rules in fitting survey data of household and expert inflation expectations in five core European economies (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain). Overall it is found that constant gain learning performs well in out-of-sample forecasting. It is also shown that households in high inflation countries are using higher best fitting constant gain parameters than those in low inflation countries. They are hence able to pick up structural changes faster. Professional forecasters update their information sets more frequently than households. Furthermore, household expectations in the Euro Area have not converged to the inflation goal of the ECB, which is to keep inflation belowto but close to 2% in the medium run. This contrasts the findings for professional experts, which seem to be more inclined to incorporate the implications of monetary union for the convergence in inflation rates into their expectations.

Inflation Expectations
Inflation Expectations

Author: Peter J. N. Sinclair

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-12-16

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 1135179778

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Inflation is regarded by the many as a menace that damages business and can only make life worse for households. Keeping it low depends critically on ensuring that firms and workers expect it to be low. So expectations of inflation are a key influence on national economic welfare. This collection pulls together a galaxy of world experts (including Roy Batchelor, Richard Curtin and Staffan Linden) on inflation expectations to debate different aspects of the issues involved. The main focus of the volume is on likely inflation developments. A number of factors have led practitioners and academic observers of monetary policy to place increasing emphasis recently on inflation expectations. One is the spread of inflation targeting, invented in New Zealand over 15 years ago, but now encompassing many important economies including Brazil, Canada, Israel and Great Britain. Even more significantly, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the United States Federal Bank are the leading members of another group of monetary institutions all considering or implementing moves in the same direction. A second is the large reduction in actual inflation that has been observed in most countries over the past decade or so. These considerations underscore the critical – and largely underrecognized - importance of inflation expectations. They emphasize the importance of the issues, and the great need for a volume that offers a clear, systematic treatment of them. This book, under the steely editorship of Peter Sinclair, should prove very important for policy makers and monetary economists alike.

European Inflation Dynamics
European Inflation Dynamics

Author: Jordi Galí

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13:

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We provide evidence on the fit of the New Phillips Curve (NPQ for the Euro area over the period 1970-1998, and use it as a tool to compare the characteristics of European inflation dynamics with those observed in the U.S. We also analyze the factors underlying inflation inertia by examining the cyclical behavior of marginal costs, as well as that of its two main components, namely, labor productivity and real wages. Some of the findings can be summarized as follows: (a) the NPC fits Euro area data very well, possibly better than U.S. data, (b) the degree of price stickiness implied by the estimates is substantial, but in line with survey evidence and U.S. estimates, (c) inflation dynamics in the Euro area appear to have a stronger forward- looking component (i.e., less inertia) than in the U.S., (d) labor market frictions, as manifested in the behavior of the wage markup, appear to have played a key role in shaping the behavior of marginal costs and, consequently, inflation in Europe.

Expectations' Anchoring and Inflation Persistence
Expectations' Anchoring and Inflation Persistence

Author: Mr.Rudolfs Bems

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2018-12-11

Total Pages: 31

ISBN-13: 148439223X

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Understanding the sources of inflation persistence is crucial for monetary policy. This paper provides an empirical assessment of the influence of inflation expectations' anchoring on the persistence of inflation. We construct a novel index of inflation expectations' anchoring using survey-based inflation forecasts for 45 economies starting in 1989. We then study the response of consumer prices to terms-of-trade shocks for countries with flexible exchange rates. We find that these shocks have a significant and persistent effect on consumer price inflation when expectations are poorly anchored. By contrast, inflation reacts by less and returns quickly to its pre-shock level when expectations are strongly anchored.

Inflation Dynamics and Monetary Policy in the Euro Area
Inflation Dynamics and Monetary Policy in the Euro Area

Author: Pierpaolo Benigno

Publisher:

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789284802760

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The surge in inflation rates experienced by the euro area since the beginning of 2021 is rooted in supply shocks that have led to bottlenecks and an energy crisis. This paper shows that the shifts of inflation expectations into prices could cause some persistence in the excessive inflation process. In this last respect, the flatness of the Phillips curve implies that the unemployment-inflation sacrifice ratio is high; hence, there are substantial costs of bringing inflation down through a contraction in aggregate demand. However, a restrictive monetary policy stance appears unavoidable to keep inflation expectations anchored. A compelling policy mix can overcome this trade-off by supporting a favourable scenario with a soft landing of the economy and an inflation rate returning to target at the medium-long horizon. This paper was provided by the Economic Governance and EMU Scrutiny Unit (EGOV) at the request of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) ahead of the Monetary Dialogue with the ECB President on 20 March 2022.

Inflation Dynamics in the Euro Area and the Role of Expectations
Inflation Dynamics in the Euro Area and the Role of Expectations

Author: Maritta Paloviita

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 39

ISBN-13: 9789524620048

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This paper assesses empirically the two main alternative specifications of the output gap-based Phillips relation for the euro area: the older expectations-augmented Phillips curve and the new Keynesian Phillips curve. The main focus is on the role of expectations and comparison of the two theories. Instead of imposing rational expectations, an alternative and in principle less restrictive approach is applied to operationalising expectations. Direct measures of inflation expectations, ie OECD forecasts, are used as empirical proxies of economic agents' inflation expectations. The main interest is in the euro area as a whole, although potential heterogeneity of inflation dynamics is also examined across eleven EMU countries. According to the results, inflation expectations are central to the inflation process in all euro area countries. The paper finds evidence that the new Keynesian Phillips curve fits the euro area data slightly better than the expectations-augmented Phillips curve. Research on expectations formation would be an important complement to the present study.