scholarly journals Involuntary Unemployment in a Neoclassical Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-28
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Wage Rate ◽  
Utility Maximization ◽  
Overlapping Generations ◽  
Monopolistic Competition ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Nominal Wage ◽  
Olg Model ◽  
Neoclassical Model ◽  
Involuntary Unemployment

AbstractWe show the existence of involuntary unemployment without assuming wage rigidity using a neoclassical model of consumption and production. We consider a case of indivisible labor supply and increasing returns to scale under monopolistic competition. We derive involuntary unemployment by considering utility maximization of consumers and profit maximization of firms in an overlapping generations (OLG) model with two or three generations. In a two-periods OLG model it is possible that a reduction of the nominal wage rate reduces unemployment. However, if we consider a three-periods OLG model including a childhood period, a reduction of the nominal wage rate does not necessarily reduce unemployment.

scholarly journals INDIVISIBLE LABOR SUPPLY AND INVOLUNTARY UNEMPLOYMENT: MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION MODEL

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
YASUHITO TANAKA
Keyword(s):  
Labor Supply ◽  
Utility Maximization ◽  
Overlapping Generations ◽  
Monopolistic Competition ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Wage Rigidity ◽  
Overlapping Generations Model ◽  
Involuntary Unemployment ◽  
Constant Returns To Scale

This paper is an attempt to provide a micro-theoretical basis for Keynesian economics while maintaining as much of the neoclassical framework as possible, such as utility maximization for consumers and profit maximization for firms. We show the existence of involuntary unemployment without assuming wage rigidity when labor supplies of individuals are indivisible. We derive involuntary unemployment using an overlapping generations model under monopolistic competition with constant returns to scale technology and indivisible labor supply.

scholarly journals Microeconomic Foundation for Phillips Curve with a Three-Period Overlapping Generations Model and Negative Real Balance Effect

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (55) ◽  
pp. 163-175
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Overlapping Generations ◽  
Inflation Rate ◽  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Monopolistic Competition ◽  
Nominal Wage ◽  
Olg Model ◽  
Real Balance ◽  
Negative Relation ◽  
Profit Maximisation

Abstract We show a negative relation between the inflation rate and the unemployment rate, that is, the Phillips curve using a three-period overlapping generations (OLG) model with childhood period and pay-as-you-go pension for older generation under monopolistic competition with negative real balance effect. In a three-period OLG model, there may exist a negative real balance effect because consumers have debts and savings. A fall (or rise) in the nominal wage rate induces a fall (or rise) in the price, then by negative real balance effect, the unemployment rate rises (or falls), and we get a negative relation between the inflation rate and the unemployment rate. This conclusion is based on the premise of utility maximisation of consumers and profit maximisation of firms. Therefore, we present a microeconomic foundation for the Phillips curve. We also examine the effects of fiscal policy financed by seigniorage, which is represented by left-ward shift of the Phillips curve.

scholarly journals Microeconomic Foundation of the Phillips Curve

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-26
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Labor Productivity ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Utility Maximization ◽  
Overlapping Generations ◽  
Inflation Rate ◽  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Monopolistic Competition ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Overlapping Generations Model ◽  
Negative Relation

AbstractIt is an important problem to derive negative relation between the unemployment rate and the inflation rate, that is, the Phillips curve without market imperfection. We derive the Phillips curve using an overlapping generations model under monopolistic competition. We consider the effects of exogenous changes in labor productivity. An increase (decrease) in the labor productivity in a period induces a decrease (increase) in the employment, an increase (decrease) in the unemployment rate and a falling (rising) in the price of the goods in the same period. Then, given the price in the previous period the inflation rate falls (rises). This conclusion is based on the premise of utility maximization of consumers and profit maximization of firms. Therefore, we have presented a microeconomic foundation of the Phillips curve.

scholarly journals Negative Real Balance Effects in the Presence of Involuntary Unemployment

Ekonomika ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-66
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Wage Rate ◽  
Overlapping Generations ◽  
Pension System ◽  
The Other ◽  
Nominal Wage ◽  
Positive Real ◽  
Overlapping Generations Model ◽  
Real Balance ◽  
Involuntary Unemployment ◽  
Younger Generation

We examine positive or negative real balance effect (or so-called Pigou effect) by falls in the nominal wage rate and the prices of the goods in situations where there is involuntary unemployment using a three-generations overlapping generations model with childhood period and pay-as-you go pension system for the older generation consumers. We will show that if the net savings of the younger generation consumers are larger than their debts due to consumption in their childhood period, there exists positive real balance effect and the employment increases by a fall in the nominal wage rate; on the other hand, if the net savings of the younger generation consumers are smaller than their debts, there exists negative real balance effect and the employment decreases by a fall in the nominal wage rate.

scholarly journals Fiscal Policy as a Solution to Involuntary Unemployment

Ekonomika ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Budget Deficit ◽  
Monopolistic Competition ◽  
Full Employment ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Involuntary Unemployment ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Constant Returns To Scale ◽  
Constant Prices

We show the existence of involuntary unemployment based on consumers’ utility maximization and firms’ profit maximization behavior under monopolistic competition with increasing, decreasing or constant returns to scale technology using a three-periods overlapping generations (OLG) model with a childhood period as well as younger and older periods, and pay-as-you-go pension for the older generation, and we analyze the effects of fiscal policy financed by tax and budget deficit (or seigniorage) to achieve full-employment under a situation with involuntary unemployment. Under constant prices we show the following results. 1) If the realization of full employment will increase consumers’ disposable income, in order to achieve full-employment from a state with involuntary unemployment, we need budget deficit (Proposition 1). 2) If the full-employment state has been achieved, we need balanced budget to maintain full-employment (Proposition 2). We also consider fiscal policy under inflation or deflation. Additionally, we present a game-theoretic interpretation of involuntary unemployment and full-employment. We also argue that if full employment should be achieved in equilibrium, the instability of equilibrium can be considered to be the cause of involuntary unemployment.

scholarly journals An Elementary Mathematical Model for MMT (Modern Monetary Theory)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Technological Progress ◽  
Utility Maximization ◽  
Budget Deficit ◽  
Monopolistic Competition ◽  
Full Employment ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Static Model ◽  
Monetary Theory ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

In recent years, a school of economics called MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) has been attracting attention, but it has not been analyzed theoretically or mathematically. This study aims to provide a theoretical basis for the skeleton of the MMT argument, while maintaining the basics of the neoclassical microeconomic framework, such as utility maximization of consumers by means of utility functions and budget constraint, profit maximization of firms in monopolistic competition, and equilibrium of supply and demand of goods. Using a simple static model that includes economic growth due to technological progress, we will argue that: 1) a continuous budget deficit is necessary to maintain full employment when the economy is growing, and that this deficit does not have to be covered by future surpluses; 2) Inflation is caused when the actual budget deficit exceeds the level necessary and sufficient to maintain full employment. In order to avoid further inflation, it is necessary to maintain a certain level of budget deficit; 3) A shortfall in the budget deficit leads to recession and involuntary unemployment. To recover from this, a budget deficit that exceeds the level necessary to maintain full employment is required. However, since a continuous budget deficit is necessary after full employment is restored, the deficit created to overcome the recession does not need to be covered by future budget surpluses, nor should it be.

The Fallacy of Wage Cuts and Keynes's Involuntary Unemployment

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Levendis
Keyword(s):  
Wage Rate ◽  
Full Employment ◽  
Economic Problem ◽  
Nominal Wage ◽  
Involuntary Unemployment ◽  
Narrative History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Wage Cuts

The lingering economic problem for economists in the 1920s and 1930s was unemployment. What caused it? More importantly, what could cure it? John Maynard Keynes's work offered new insights regarding both the reasons for, and the cures of, lingering and massive unemployment—what Keynes called “involuntary unemployment.” Keynes's definition of the term evolved as he gradually came to realize the role of the fallacy of composition in explaining why nominal wage rate adjustments might not induce full employment. I argue that it was Richard Kahn's multiplier article, more than anything, which guided Keynes's own understanding of the phenomenon. This paper, then, is a narrative history of how Keynes came to grips with the unprecedented level of unemployment in the 1920s and '30s interpreted through the lens of the Kahnian multiplier.

Macroeconomic (in)stability and endogenous market structure with productive government expenditure

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Wei Chang ◽  
Ching-Chong Lai
Keyword(s):  
Government Spending ◽  
Monopolistic Competition ◽  
Government Expenditure ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Production Externalities ◽  
Congestion Effect ◽  
Local Indeterminacy ◽  
Endogenous Market Structure ◽  
Productive Government Spending ◽  
Productive Government Expenditure

AbstractWe consider the congestion effect of productive government spending in a monopolistic competition model with endogenous entry, and analyze the possibility of local indeterminacy. Some main findings emerge from the analysis. First, the indeterminacy condition is independent of the monopoly power. Second, productive government expenditure can be a source of local indeterminacy, while a higher degree of public goods congestion lessens the beneficial effect of productive government expenditure, and therefore reduces the possibility of indeterminacy. Third, a higher degree of internal returns to scale is associated with a lower possibility for the emergence of indeterminacy when production externalities are present.

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