Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

You Are Here: Home » Archives: July 2009

Daily Archives: July 10, 2009

Structural Inflation Models with Real Wage Rigidities: The Case of Canada

by on

Working Paper – Structural Inflation Models with Real Wage Rigidities: The Case of Canada, Jean-Marie Dufour, Lynda Khalaf, and Maral Kichian, July 2009

  • “Real wage rigidities have recently been proposed as a way of building intrinsic persistence in inflation within the context of New Keynesian Phillips Curves. Using two recent illustrative structural models, we evaluate empirically the importance of real wage rigidities in the data and the extent to which such models provide useful information regarding price stickiness. Structural estimation and testing is carried out using Canadian data and identification-robust methods. Results based on one of the models are relatively uninformative. Our tests reveal important identification difficulties and considerable estimate uncertainty, as can be seen from the wide projections for the estimates. However, we obtain economically reasonable ranges for estimates of average frequency of price changes and some evidence for rigidity in real wages (as measured by a rigidity index) based on the other model we examine. In addition, our specification for the latter model yields significant [at usual levels] and correctly-signed reduced-form coefficient estimates, showing a trade-off between unemployment and inflation in the New Keynesian Phillips curve. From a methodological perspective, these results derive from our treatment of the productivity term as observable although with error, which seems to capture vital information and improve overall identification. From a substantive perspective, our findings suggest that wage-rigidity based New Keynesian Phillips Curves hold promise empirically and provide interesting research directions.”

    • Fact Sheet: Administration’s Regulatory Reform Agenda Moves Forward

    by on

    Fact Sheet: Administration’s Regulatory Reform Agenda Moves Forward – Legislation for Strengthening Investor Protection Delivered to Capitol Hill To view the Legislative Language, please visit link: “Continuing its push to establish new rules of the road and make the financial system more fair for consumers and investors, the Administration today delivered proposed legislation to strengthen… Continue Reading

    Has the Swan Song of the DVD Begun?

    by on

    The Economist: “TEN years ago DVDs rejuvenated the film business, encouraging people to own films rather than simply watch them. But sales, which began declining gradually in 2006, are now falling more steeply. Around a third of the drop in the first quarter was counteracted by rising sales of high-definition Blu-ray discs, which are more… Continue Reading

    National Security Inspectors General Release Critique of Warrantless Surveillance Program

    by on

    News release: Today’s release of a report by several agency inspectors general reinforces the National Security Archive’s argument in our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that the Justice Department should declassify and release the legal justifications for the surveillance program authorized by President Bush after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new report… Continue Reading

    Pew Report: Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media

    by on

    Pew Research Center: Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media – Scientific Achievements Less Prominent Than a Decade Ago “Americans like science. Overwhelming majorities say that science has had a positive effect on society and that science has made life easier for most people. Most also say that government investments in science, as well as… Continue Reading

    Research Institute Releases Primer on Internet Privacy

    by on

    News release: “The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) announced the release of a new report on Internet privacy and security. Click Confidential: A Privacy Primer for the Social Web, authored by Daniel Ballon, Ph.D., PRI senior fellow in technology studies, outlines the detrimental affects of government regulated privacy policy on emerging online businesses. He also provides… Continue Reading