Doctoral Dissertation: Testing the New Keynesian Synthesis: An Experimental Examination of Nominal Price Frictions in a Model with Endogenous Costs and Efficiency Wages

詹姆斯·考克斯和巴特·威尔逊9507526在过去的二十年里，所谓的新凯恩斯主义宏观经济学家一直试图从坚实的微观经济学基础上构建他们的宏观经济理论。他们提出了一些模型，在这些模型中，价格和工资具有粘性，货币政策在短期内具有实际效果。这项工作建立在不完全竞争、菜单成本和实际刚性的假设之上。菜单成本是价格变化的成本。真正的僵化是S成本充分调整以适应总需求冲击的企业失败。真正的僵化是效率工资的结果。效率工资是高于竞争均衡水平的工资，公司支付这些工资是为了减少工人的推卸责任。这一提议包括两个实验，旨在检验新凯恩斯主义宏观经济模型的假设。第一个实验将使用垄断卖家面临名义需求和成本波动的实验设计来检验曼昆·S菜单成本模型。第二个实验将使用一个实验设计来测试效率工资模型，在这个实验设计中，生产者面临菜单成本，工人可以逃避。这些实验的结果将阐明价格和工资调整对需求冲击的动态，并提出当前理论需要发展的方向。

James Cox and Bart Wilson SBR-9507526 For the last twenty years, so-called new Keynesian macroeconomists have been trying to construct their macroeconomic theories from solid microeconomic foundations. They have proposed models in which prices and wages are sticky and monetary policy has real effects in the short run. This work has rested on the assumptions of imperfect competition, menu costs, and real rigidities. Menu costs are the cost of changing prices. A real rigidity is a failure of the firm s costs of fully adjust to an aggregate demand shock. Real rigidities are a consequence of efficiency wages. Efficiency wages are wages above the competitive equilibrium level that firms pay in order to reduce shirking by its workers. This proposal consists of two experiments designed to test the assumptions of new Keynesian macroeconomic models. The first experiment will test Mankiw s menu cost model using an experimental design in which monopoly sellers face fluctuations in nominal demand and cost. The second experiment will test an efficiency wage model using an experimental design in which p roducers face menu costs and workers can shirk. The results of these experiments will shed light on the dynamics of price and wage adjustment to demand shocks and suggest the directions in which the current theories need to be developed.