Econometrica

Journal Of The Econometric Society

An International Society for the Advancement of Economic
Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics

Edited by: Guido W. Imbens • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262

Econometrica: Jul, 2023, Volume 91, Issue 4

Networks, Phillips Curves, and Monetary Policy

https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA18654
p. 1417-1455

Elisa Rubbo

This paper revisits the New Keynesian framework, theoretically and quantitatively, in an economy with multiple sectors and input‐output linkages. Analytical expressions for the Phillips curve and welfare, derived as a function of primitives, show that the slope of all sectoral and aggregate Phillips curves is decreasing in intermediate input shares, while productivity fluctuations endogenously generate an inflation‐output tradeoff—except when inflation is measured according to the novel divine coincidence index. Consistent with the theory, the divine coincidence index provides a better fit in Phillips curve regressions than consumer prices. Monetary policy can no longer achieve the first‐best, resulting in a welfare loss of 2.9% of per‐period GDP under the constrained‐optimal policy, which increases to 3.8% when targeting consumer inflation. The constrained‐optimal policy must tolerate relative price distortions across firms and sectors in order to stabilize the output gap, and it can be implemented via a Taylor rule that targets the divine coincidence index.


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Supplemental Material

Supplement to "Networks, Phillips Curves, and Monetary Policy"

Elisa Rubbo

This zip file contains the replication files for the manuscript.

Supplement to "Networks, Phillips Curves, and Monetary Policy"

Elisa Rubbo

This document collects alternative regression specifications for Section 7 of the paper, and detailed proofs that were omitted from the main text.