The Responses of Prices at Different Stages of Production to Monetary Policy Shocks

Abstract

This paper examines the responses of prices at different stages of production to monetary policy shocks. In aggregate price analysis, the VAR of Christiano et al. (1996a, 1996b) is used to identify the policy shock as the federal funds rate innovation and trace out the responses of prices. In disaggregate price analysis, the adjustment of prices is examined by comparing inflation before and after a recent policy tightening identified by Romer and Romer (1989, 1992). At early stages of production, a monetary tightening causes input prices to fall more rapidly and by a larger amount than output prices. © 1999 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology