Monetary Policy and the Relative Price of Durable Goods

82 Pages Posted: 18 Jan 2018

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 2017

Abstract

In a SVAR model of the US, the response of the relative price of durables to a monetary contraction is either flat or mildly positive. It significantly falls only if narrowly defined as the ratio between new-house and nondurables prices. These findings are rationalized via the estimation of a two-sector New-Keynesian (NK) models. Durables prices are estimated to be as sticky as nondurables, leading to a flat relative price response to a monetary shock. Conversely, house prices are estimated to be almost flexible. Such results survive several robustness checks and a three-sector extension of the NK model. These findings have implications for building two-sector NK models with durable and nondurable goods, and for the conduct of monetary policy.

Keywords: Monetary policy, durables, nondurables, price stickiness, relative price, Monetary Policy (Targets, Instruments, and Effects)

JEL Classification: E52, E32

Suggested Citation

Cantelmo, Alessandro and Melina, Giovanni, Monetary Policy and the Relative Price of Durable Goods (December 2017). IMF Working Paper No. 17/290, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104565

Alessandro Cantelmo (Contact Author)

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
Rome, 00184
Italy

Giovanni Melina

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

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