This paper analyzes the interaction between oil prices and macroeconomic outcomes by incorporating oil as an input in production alongside a precautionary motive for holding oil in a real-business-cycle model. The driving forces are factor-specific technology shocks and supply shocks that can be...

Recent work has shown that microeconomic shocks at the firm and sector level account for a substantial share of output volatility. We examine whether this relationship holds for house price growth volatility, which also declined during the Great Moderation and increased after 2001. Using a novel...

To what extent is the international business cycle affected by the fact that an essential input (oil) is traded on the world market? We quantify the contribution of oil by setting up a model with separate shocks to efficiencies of capital/labor and oil, as well as global shocks to the oil...