We explore the implications of the differential behavior of total factor productivity across sectors to understand the dynamics of the relative prices of services to manufacturing sectors. We find that contrary to the predictions of the Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis, the evolution of relative...

This paper addresses the issue of measuring the NAIRU in the Spanish economy. We implement some of the procedures proposed in the literature to estimate the NAIRU, describing their advantages and disadvantages. Our analysis shows that these alternative approaches provide significantly different...

In this paper we measure, at sectoral level, the sources of Spanish productivity growth, distinguishing among the roles played by labor productivity, the degree of factor substitution and total factor productivity (Solow residual). In terms of value added, total factor productivity growth in the...

In this paper we show that value added mark ups tend to be pro cyclical in manufacturing and counter cyclical in market services. However, at the sectoral level value added mark ups may be misinterpreted if intermediate input variations are ignored. This is particularly true in the case of the...

In this paper we present a simple, theory-based measure of the variations in aggregate economic efficiency associated with business fluctuations. We decompose this indicator, which we refer to as “the gap”, into two constituent parts: a price markup and a wage markup, and show that the...

We construct a measure of Euro area cyclical efficiency, following the approach developed in Galí, Gertler and López-Salido (2002). Our measure –which we call "the gap"– corresponds to the inverse of price over social marginal cost. Here we present a time series of this gap for the Euro...

We provide evidence on the fit of the New Phillips Curve (NPC) for the Euro area over the period 1970-1998, and use it as a tool to compare the characteristics of European inflation dynamics with those observed in the U.S. We also analyse the factors underlying inflation inertia by examining the...

Galí and Gertler (1999) developed a hybrid variant of the New Keynesian Phillips curve that relates inflation to real marginal cost, expected future inflation and lagged inflation. GMM estimates of the model suggest that forward looking behavior is dominant: The coefficient on expected future...

The purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, we characterize de Fed's systematic response to technology shocks and its implications for US output, hours and inflation. Second we evaluate the extent to which that responses can be accounted for by a simple monetary policy rule in the...

In this paper we provide evidence on the fit of the New Phillips Curve (NPC) for Spain over the most recent disinflationary period (1980-1998). Some of the findings can be summarized as follows: (a) the NPC fits the data well; (b) yet, the backward looking component of inflation is important;...