THE NEW KEYNESIAN PHILLIPS CURVE: A META-ANALYSIS Emmanuel Carré University of Bordeaux – GREThA [email protected]Abstract. The purely forward-looking New Keynesian Phillips Curve (NKPC) is presented as the new consensus on inflation theory. Yet this canonical NKPC is now challenged by a hybrid NKPC (HNKPC) that incorporates a backward-looking component. Standard empirical estimations remain inconclusive on this controversy, with conflicting results that favour either the NKPC, or the HNKPC, depending on the econometric approach. This article explores the debate about the empirical estimation of the HNKPC by using a different method: a meta-analysis technique. I collect 891 estimations, which come from 79 papers. I find a significant backward-looking component in the HNKPC (about one third), although the forward- looking share is significantly dominant (about two thirds). This macroeconomic result is also seen at the microeconomic level, in which firms’ surveys indicate about one third of prices are formed on a backward-looking basis. The implications of this result for the conduct of the inflation targeting regime are examined. Keywords. New Keynesian Phillips Curve; Meta-analysis; Inflation persistence; Inflation targeting JEL Classification: C42; C82 ; E31; E32 ; E52
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THE NEW KEYNESIAN PHILLIPS CURVE: A META-ANALYSIS · THE NEW KEYNESIAN PHILLIPS CURVE: A META-ANALYSIS Emmanuel Carré University of Bordeaux – GREThA [email protected] Abstract.
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If the NKPC is hybrid, since the Divine Coincidence does not hold, the central bank can
hardly focus only on the sole objective of price stability )0( =− ππ t , as it is not enough. As a
consequence, due to the persistence of inflation, the central bank should adopt a more flexible
type of inflation targeting. In practice this consists of choosing a longer time horizon to return
to the inflation target, in order to change the inflation target, to activate the escape clause, or
to evolve to a dual mandate. Indeed, all these modifications are equivalent to an increase in
the weight on output in central bank loss function. If this rise is large, it is possible that the
weight of output becomes larger than the weight of inflation, thus constituting a dual mandate.
5. Conclusion
According to common wisdom, the purely forward looking NKPC is robustly based on
microfoundations, and is capable of reproducing the empirical dynamics of inflation. A meta-
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analysis tends to indicate that this perceived wisdom has to be taken carefully. It suggests that
the NKPC is empirically more hybrid than pure, as it contains a backward looking fraction, of
about one third. This result is roughly in agreement with microeconomic surveys of firms
which indicate that about 30% of firms form their prices based on past inflation.
Even if the results of the meta-analysis should be received with caution, they propose a
substantial modification of the optimal monetary policy derived from the purely forward
looking NKPC. In particular the Divine Coincidence - the cornerstone of the inflation
targeting regime – is not supported by a hybrid NKPC. This rejection casts doubts on the
conduct, and eventually on the sustainability of a strict inflation targeting regime, and favours
the adoption of a more flexible type of inflation targeting.
The usual theory is that inflation targeting evolves from a strict to a flexible type as
soon as credibility is earned, i.e. when inflation expectations are anchored to the inflation
target. Inflation then becomes a purely expectation phenomenon, without inertia, leading to a
purely forward looking NKPC. The inflation targeting regime becomes more flexible because
it exploits this credibility bonus given by agents. After nearly twenty years of inflation
targeting, the meta-analysis should confirm this scenario of the evolution of this regime.
Nevertheless, the meta-analysis suggests that the evolution towards a flexible inflation
targeting has been accompanied by a hybrid NKPC. As a result, the meta-analysis proposes a
more complete scenario of the evolution whereby credibility is imperfect, so that the inflation
targeting becomes more flexible also because it is necessary in order to take inflation inertia
into account. Flexible inflation targeting is also partly an obligation. In light of the experience
of inflation targeting in Brazil, the hypothesis of flexibility as a necessity, in addition to a
bonus, seems valid.
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Appendix
Table 1. A comparison of the number of estimates collected in meta-analysis. References Number of estimates
Card and Krueger (1995) 15 Knell and Stix (2003) 559 Nijkamp and Poot (2003) 208 Nijkamp and Poot (2004) 123 De Grauwe and Costa Storti 122 Rose and Stanley (2005) 34 Doucouliagos and Paldam (2008) 543
Notes
1. See Goodfriend and King (1997 ; 2001).
2. A benchmark DSGE model is Smets and Wouters (2003).
3. See also Balakrishnan and Lopez-Salido (2002, p.10).
4. See Walsh (2003).
5. See also Cogley and Sbordone (2005), Sbordone (2005, p.1196) or Angeloni et al. (2006, p.572).
6. Another limit to the canonical NKPC is the lack of ‘cost push’ shock ε arising from wages or the exchange
rate. It is a serious matter for emerging markets under inflation targeting such as Brazil or South Africa. This
is not analysed because it is beyond the scope of this paper dedicated to inflation persistence. There are
other limits to the NKPC, such as the proxy for the real marginal cost: labour income share or output gap.
As Shown in Kurmann (2007), the coefficients βf and βb vary considerably depending on the proxy chosen.
7. See Sims (1998), Minford and Peel (2003, p.2), Buiter (2006), McCallum (2007, p.15).
8. See Roberts (2001, p.1), Mankiw and Reis (2002, p.1295), Fuhrer and Olivei (2004, p.2), Rumler (2005,
p.7), Dufour et al. (2005, p.1).
9. See Mankiw (2001).
10. See Fuhrer and Moore (1995). There is an on going controversy on the evidence of a significant decrease of
inflation persistence in the recent period. Some authors claim that the drop is effective (Kumar and
Okimoto, 2007), while author contest this drop of persistence and consider that inflation persistence has
remained fairly stable and significant (O’Reilly and Whelan, 2004 ; Pivetta and Reis, 2007).
11. Fuhrer and Moore (1995, p.127), Sims (1998).
12. Gali and Gertler (2007, p.42).
13. See Gali and Gertler (1999), Christiano, Eichenbaum and Evans (2005).
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14. See also Fuhrer (2006, p.52) for the distinction between ‘intrinsic’ and ‘inherited’ persistence.
15. See Rudd and Whelan (2007, p.156).
16. Fabiani et al. (2005, p.11), Alvarez et al. (2005, p.17), Leith and Malley (2005, p.13).
17. Paloviita (2005a, p.15).
18. For a recent overview of this technique in economics, see the 2005 special issue of the Journal of Economic
Surveys, volume 19, issue 3.
19. See Ma (2002), Mavroeidis (2005), Fuhrer and Olivei (2004), Nason and Smith (2005, p.1).
20. See also Kurmann (2007), or Jondeau and Le Bihan (2008).
21. See also Fuhrer and Olivei (2004, p.2).
22. See also Gali, Gertler and Lopez-Salido (2001 ; 2005), Cogley and Sbordone (2005, p.2 ; 2006, p.2).
23. See Fuhrer (1997), Rudd and Whelan (2005), Lindé (2005), Zhang and Osborn (2006).
24. See Nijkamp and Poot (2004, p.94).
25. See Knell and Stix (2003, p.6).
26. See Stanley (2001, p.134).
27. See Rose (2004, p.6).
28. Data available upon request.
29. As in Rose and Stanley (2005, p.5).
30. As done in the meta-analysis of De Grauwe and Costa Storti (2004).
31. As done in the meta-analysis of De Grauwe and Costa Storti (2004, p.6).
32. See Carré and Le Heron (2006) for a presentation of the credibility literature.
33. See Paloviita (2005b, p.20), Jondeau and Le Bihan (2005, p.522).
34. See Fuhrer and Olivei (2004, p.16).
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