Market Structure and Aggregate Fluctuations

本研究假设不完全竞争产品 市场和不同程度的市场力量拥有 企业在各种总体冲击如何影响 影响就业和经济活动。 本研究拟 研究不完全竞争的各种模型， 均衡加价的变化是对总体冲击的反应。 将特别注意在理论上发展一个 严格的和经验检验的量化模型的影响， 对美国能源价格变化的产出和就业的影响。 各种理论的经验成功将在两个测试 的方式 第一，某些冲击的影响（例如 世界石油价格）对美国经济的影响将使用 相对而言，这是一个理论上的计量经济学规范。 这些估计 然后将脉冲响应与定量 理论模型的“校准”版本的预测。 第二，模型的某些结构方程（特别是 将平均加价与其他宏观经济变量联系起来） 将估计计量经济学，和系数限制 各种理论所暗示的正式的将被测试。 这个项目是值得赞扬的，因为它涉及实质性的 经济问题-市场结构对总量的影响 波动 它还将有助于关闭目前的方法， 不同宏观经济思想流派之间的差距。 最后，研究石油价格冲击的后果是在 这本身就是一项非常重要和值得注意的活动。

This study takes the premise that imperfectly competitive product markets and variations in the degree of market power possessed by firms play important roles in how a variety of aggregate shocks affect employment and economic activity. This study intends to examine various models of imperfect competition in which the equilibrium markup changes in response to aggregate shocks. Particular attention will be given to developing a theoretically rigorous and empirically tested quantitative model of the effects on U.S. output and employment of energy price changes. The empirical success of the various theories will be tested in two ways. First, the effects of certain shocks (such as changes in world oil prices) upon the U.S. economy will be estimated using a relatively atheoretical econometric specification. These estimated impulse responses will then be compared to the quantitative predictions of "calibrated" versions of the theoretical models. Second, certain structural equations of the models (especially those linking average mark-ups to other macroeconomic variables) will be estimated econometrically, and the coefficient restrictions implied by the various theories formally will be tested. This project is meritorious because it deals with substantive economic matters - the influence of market structure on aggregate fluctuations. It will also serve to close current methodological gaps between alternative schools of macroeconomic thought. Finally, the study of the consequences of oil price shocks is in itself a very important and noteworthy activity.