The Macroeconomic Implications of Adjustment Costs

9309979关于价格、就业、投资和消费等总体变量动态的莱希问题是商业周期分析的核心。这些变量的一个显著特征是，这些集合体的性质与作为其基础的个体行为的性质之间存在根本差异。企业的价格、投资和就业行为，以及个人的消费行为，都涉及摩擦因素，这些摩擦因素导致了微观经济层面的惯性。然而，个体之间的异质性往往会使相应的聚集体的行为变得顺畅。然而，尽管它们表面上是连续的，但这些集合最终是它们各部分的总和。因此，它们从行为组件继承某些属性。新的资金将继续这项关于微观经济摩擦影响总量的确切方式的研究。以前的工作侧重于将信息性考虑引入聚合领域所涉及的理论问题。目前的项目将使用特别适合研究汇总的独特的抵押贷款再融资数据集，对汇总采取经验性的办法。该项目还发展了新的理论思路，并用特定历史事件(如上世纪80年代初的S的拉美债务危机)的数据检验了理论研究的适用性。该项目还建立了一个在存在调整成本和不完全信息的情况下的货币政策制定模型。该模型允许对在渐进主义和更激进的货币政策方法之间进行选择所涉及的问题进行严格分析。这一结果将揭示美国近期货币政策的性质，并为其他一系列政策问题提供借鉴。***

9309979 Leahy Questions concerning the dynamics of aggregate variables such as prices, employment, investment, and consumption represent the core of business cycle analysis. One striking feature of these variables is the radical difference between properties of these aggregates and the nature of the individual behavior that underlies them. The behavior of a firm's prices, investment, and employment, and the behavior of an individual's consumption all involve frictional elements that lead to inertia at the microeconomic level. Heterogeneity among individuals, however, tends to smooth the behavior of the corresponding aggregates. Yet, in spite of their apparent continuity, these aggregates are in the end the sum of their parts. They therefore inherit certain properties from the behavior components. Renewed funding will continue this research on the precise way in which microeconomic frictions influence aggregates. Previous work focussed on theoretical issues involved with the introduction of informational considerations into the field of aggregation. The current project will pursue empirical approaches to aggregation using a unique data set on mortgage refinancing that is particularly well suited to the study of aggregation. The project also develops new theoretical ideas and tests the applicability of the theoretical research with data from specific historical episodes such as the Latin American debt crisis of the early 1980's. The project also develops a model of monetary policy formulation in the presence of adjustment costs and imperfect information. The model permits rigorous analysis of the issues involved in choosing between a gradualist and a more aggressive approach to monetary policy. The results will shed light on the nature of recent U.S. monetary policy and have lessons for a wide range of other policy issues. ***