Effects of trend inflation on monetary policy and fiscal policy shocks in Vietnam

PurposeThis paper analyzes variations in effects of monetary and fiscal shocks on responses of macroeconomic variables, determinacy region and welfare costs due to changes in trend inflation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develops the New-Keynesian model, which the central banks can employ either nominal interest rate (IR rule) or money supply (MS rule) to conduct monetary policies. They also use their budgets for capital and recurrent spending to conduct fiscal policies. By using simulated method of moment (SMM) for parameter estimation, the authors characterize Vietnam's economy during 1996Q1 -2015Q1.FindingsThe results report that consequences of monetary policy and fiscal policy shocks become more serious if there is a rise in trend inflation. Furthermore, the money supply might not be an effective instrument and using the government budget for recurrent spending produces severe consequences in the high-trend-inflation economy.Originality/valueThis is the first paper that examines the effects of trend inflation on the monetary and fiscal policy implementation in the case of Vietnam.

Flattening of the Phillips Curve with State-Dependent Prices and Wages

We study monetary transmission in a model of state-dependent prices and wages based on ‘control costs’. Stickiness arises because precise choice is costly: decision-makers tolerate errors both in the timing of adjustments, and in the new level at which the price or wage is set. The model is calibrated to microdata on the size and frequency of price and wage changes. In our simulations, money shocks have less persistent real effects than in the Calvo framework; nonetheless, the model exhibits a substantial degree of non-neutrality, driven mainly by wage rigidity. State-dependent nominal stickiness implies a flatter Phillips curve as trend inflation declines, because price and wage adjustments become less frequent, making short-run inflation less reactive to shocks. Our model can explain almost half of the observed decline in the slope of the Phillips curve since 2000.

Non-linearities, state-dependent prices and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy

A sticky price theory of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy shocks based on state-dependent pricing yields two testable implications, that do not hold in time-dependent models. First, large monetary policy shocks should yield proportionally larger initial responses of the price level. Second, in a high trend inflation regime, the response of the price level to monetary policy shocks should be larger and real effects smaller. Our analysis provides evidence supporting these non-linear effects in the response of the price level in aggregate US data, indicating state-dependent pricing as an important feature of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy.