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Nonlinear unemployment effects of the inflation tax

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? 2022 The Author(s)Long-run inflation has nonlinear and state-dependent effects on unemployment, output, and welfare. We show this using a standard monetary search model with two shocks – productivity and monetary – and frictions in both labor and goods markets. Inflation lowers the surplus from a worker–firm match, in turn making it more sensitive to both productivity shocks and further increases in inflation. We calibrate the model to match key aspects of the US labor market and monetary data. The calibrated model is consistent with a number of empirical correlations, which we document using panel data from the OECD: (1) there is a positive long-run relationship between anticipated inflation and unemployment; (2) there is also a positive correlation between anticipated inflation and unemployment volatility; (3) the long-run inflation-unemployment relationship is stronger when unemployment is higher. The key mechanism through which the model generates these results is the negative effect of inflation on measured output per worker, which is likewise consistent with cross-country data. Finally, we show that the welfare cost of inflation is nonlinear in the level of inflation and is amplified by the presence of aggregate uncertainty.

InflationMoneyProduct–labor market interactionSearchUnemployment volatility

Ait Lahcen M.、Baughman G.、Rabinovich S.、van Buggenum H.

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Department of Finance and Economics Qatar University

Federal Reserve Board of Governors

Department Economics University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

ETH Zürich

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2022

European Economic Review

European Economic Review

ISSHP
ISSN:0014-2921
年,卷(期):2022.148
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