Working Paper: NBER ID: w27474
Authors: Matteo Cacciatore; Fabio Ghironi
Abstract: We study how trade linkages affect the conduct of monetary policy in a two-country model with heterogeneous firms, endogenous producer entry, and labor market frictions. We show that the ability of the model to replicate key empirical regularities following trade integration---synchronization of business cycles across trading partners and reallocation of market shares toward more productive firms---is central to understanding how trade costs affect monetary policy trade-offs. First, productivity gains through firm selection reduce the need of positive inflation to correct long-run distortions. As a result, lower trade costs reduce the optimal average inflation rate. Second, as stronger trade linkages increase business cycle synchronization, country-specific shocks have more global consequences. Thus, the optimal stabilization policy remains inward looking. By contrast, sub-optimal, inward-looking stabilization---for instance too narrow a focus on price stability---results in larger welfare costs when trade linkages are strong due to inefficient fluctuations in cross-country aggregate demand.
Keywords: trade; unemployment; monetary policy
JEL Codes: E24; E32; E52; F16; F41; J64
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| trade costs (F19) | optimal average inflation rate (E31) |
| decrease in trade costs (F19) | optimal average inflation rate (E31) |
| trade costs (F19) | productivity gains through firm selection (L25) |
| productivity gains through firm selection (L25) | optimal average inflation rate (E31) |
| increased trade linkages (F19) | synchronization of business cycles (F44) |
| synchronization of business cycles (F44) | global impact of country-specific shocks (F69) |
| strong trade linkages (F10) | larger welfare costs due to inefficient fluctuations in aggregate demand (D69) |
| suboptimal inward-looking policies (F68) | larger welfare costs when trade linkages are strong (F12) |