International Finance Discussion Papers (IFDP)
January 1998
The Choice of a Monetary Policy Reaction Function in a Simple Optimizing Model
Dale W. Henderson and Jinill Kim
Abstract:
Monetary policy reaction functions are compared in a simple optimizing model with one-period nominal stickiness, i.i.d. shocks, and no capital accumulation. The interest rate is the instrument and is either kept constant, "interest rate targeting" for short, or used in targeting one of the following: money, the price level, output, nominal income (output), money growth, inflation, and the sum of inflation and output. There are three varieties of one-period nominal stickiness---wage stickiness, wage and price stickiness, and price stickiness---and three kinds of shocks---money demand shocks, goods demand shocks, and productivity shocks. A given type of targeting is "better" than some other type for a given variable and kind of shock if it results in smaller deviations of the variable from its target value. Some familiar results regarding the ranking of types of targeting are confirmed in the optimizing model, and some new results are obtained. It is not surprising that rankings may depend both on the type of shock and on which variable is the target variable. However, it may be somewhat surprising that, given that wages are sticky, rankings depend on whether prices are sticky, but that given that prices are sticky rankings do not depend on whether wages are sticky.
Keywords: Inflation targeting, price level targeting, nominal stickiness
PDF: Full Paper
Disclaimer: The economic research that is linked from this page represents the views of the authors and does not indicate concurrence either by other members of the Board's staff or by the Board of Governors. The economic research and their conclusions are often preliminary and are circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comment. The Board values having a staff that conducts research on a wide range of economic topics and that explores a diverse array of perspectives on those topics. The resulting conversations in academia, the economic policy community, and the broader public are important to sharpening our collective thinking.