Professional Documents
Culture Documents
American Economic Association
American Economic Association
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1801626?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
American Economic Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The American Economic
Review.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 198.91.37.2 on Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:24:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Staggered Wage Setting in a Macro Model
By JOHN B. TAYLOR*
Few economists now question the validity very flat. But, if this were the only source of
of the Friedman-Phelps accelerationist hy- ambiguity in the accelerationist model, then it
pothesis that the Phillips curve is vertical in is likely that the controversy over the short-
the long run-at least as a first-orderapprox- run properties would have been settled quick-
imation. Indeed, the once controversial hy- ly: the attractiveness of rational expecta-
pothesis is now embodied in basic textbook tions-again as a first-orderapproximation-
macro models (see Rudiger Dornbusch and has become increasingly evident in theoretical
Stanley Fischer, and Robert J. Gordon, for and empirical work.
example). This new accelerationist consensus, The second source of imprecision is more
however, has done little to settle the ongoing troublesome and is unlikely to be resolved
debate over aggregate demand policy, where quickly. It involves the micro-economic
the crucial issues appear to depend on the details of wage and price adjustment which
short-run Phillips curve and its dynamic are just as much a part of the famous macro
properties. The accelerationist theory pro- "expectations"adjustment, as the expectation
vided an elegant and concise representationof formation mechanism itself. While an
the inflationary process for the long run. extremely literal reading of the acceleration-
However, it has proved distressingly unspe- ist theories would interpret 7r* as a pure
cific as a framework for the development of forecast of inflation independent of the
short-run dynamics. dynamics of wage and price contracts, a more
Two sources of this incomplete specifica- practical reading would suggest that 7r*
tion have stimulated extensive research in represents the persistence of inflation due to
recent years. The first-about which little the gradual adjustments of outstanding wage
will be said here-is that the accelerationist and price contracts to new economic informa-
theory was not specific about the process of tion. Some modelling of this phenomenon can
expectation formation. According to the theo- be found in Edmund Phelps (1970), especially
ry, the expected inflation rate lr* should be his Appendix 1, and in Arthur Okun's
added to the right-hand side of the Phillips contract-based inflation model with accelera-
equation. Hence the expectation process tionist implications. Empirical work on price
determining xr* matters greatly for short-run and wage equations by Philip Cagan and
dynamics. For example, if expectations are Michael Wachter has emphasized the dy-
formed rationally, then as Thomas Sargent namic implications of both contracts and
and Neil Wallace have shown (using the expectations. Policy-oriented studies by Wil-
Robert Lucas supply model), the Phillips liam Fellner (1978) and George Perry have
curve will be vertical in the short run as well also taken this view of the accelerationist
as the long run from the point of view of theory, though with widely differing policy
aggregate demand policy. On the other hand, suggestions.
if expectations are adaptive-either by The impact of aggregate demand on infla-
assumption or by derivation from a learning tion and employment is crucially dependent
model-then the short-run slope might be on whether the contract mechanism or the
expectation mechanism dominates the persis-
*Columbia University. This research is being tence effects commonly represented by 7r*.
supported by the National Science Foundation. This Hence, a resolution of the current macro-
paper was completed while I was a consultant to the economic controversy requires some explicit
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, which does not
necessarily endorse the views expressed. I wish to thank models to disentangle the two mechanisms
Martin Baily, Philip Cagan, Guillermo Calvo, and theoretically, if not empirically, and to deter-
Edmund Phelps for useful comments. mine how contract length and adjustment
108
This content downloaded from 198.91.37.2 on Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:24:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
VOL. 69 NO. 2 WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT 109
This content downloaded from 198.91.37.2 on Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:24:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
110 AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION MAY 1979
variables mt, wt, and v, are the logs of the we could easily estimate d and a from equa-
aggregate wage level, the money supply and a tions (2) and (6). However, from the defini-
shock, all measured as deviations from trend. tion of a, these estimates would not determine
Note that this money demand equation is d and -yuniquely. Of course this identification
simply the quantity equation with the wage problem could be surmounted by making
substituted for the price level. This approxi- additional assumptions or by looking for shifts
mation saves one equation and can easily be in policy. For example, additional identifying
modified. If the policy rule for the money constraints arise when contracts last for more
supply is the log-linear form m, = gw,, then than two periods. Nevertheless, this potential
we can derive the simple aggregate demand identification problem should be kept in mind
relation when attempting to estimate the degree of
+ vt forward looking using aggregate time-series
(2) Yt= -wt data.
where = I1 - g. Note that d is a policy
parameter indicating the degree of accommo- II. Forward Looking Contracts and Aggregate
dation of aggregate demand to wage changes. Wage Dynamics
The model is closed by noting that wt is an
aggregate of the contract wages xt and xt-, The parameter a in equation (5) character-
outstanding at time t. If we use the geometric izes the degree of persistence in aggregate
average, then wage behavior. Clearly the persistence will
depend on how accommodative aggregate
(3) wt= .5(xt + xt-,) demand policy is to wage contract adjust-
By substituting equations (3) and (2) into ments which are "too inflationary." This
(1) and taking expectations conditional on dependence is captured in the model by the
t - 1 information we have that relationship between a and d. The higher is d
(i.e., the less accommodative is policy) the
(4) bit -I ckt + dt+ I = 0
lower is a (i.e., the less persistent are wage
where c = (1 + .5y3)/(l - .5y3). Assum- fluctuations). Hence by choosing d large
ing that xt is stable yields a solution for xt of enough, policy can achieve high degrees of
the form stability in the path of aggregate wages.
However, since higher values of d result in
(5) xt = caxt_ + et larger fluctuations in the output gap (see
where c = c -
[c2 - 4d(1 -d)] /2 equation (2)), this wage stability must be
2d traded off against real output and employ-
ment stability. This stability tradeoff defines
An equation for the average wage wt can the inflation unemployment dilemma in this
readily be derived from (5) using (3) and is model.
given by In order to distinguish between the impact
of contract effects and expectations effects on
(6) wt = cawtw,+ .5(ct + ct-X)
this tradeoff, the parameter d can be varied
Equations (6) and (2) can be used to over its range between 0 and 1. Recall that
address a number of the issues raised above. the lower is d the more backward looking is
From the parameter cawe can determine how contract determination and the less important
the wage dynamics depends on aggregate are expectations. For certain values of d and
demand policy (d), on the sensitivity of wage -y, Figure 1 illustrates how the wage dynamics
change to excess demand (-y), and on the depend on d. As one would expect, smaller
degree of forward looking (d). values of d are associated with larger values of
Note, however, that in this model we a. That is, more backward-looking wage
cannot identify the two parameters zy and d determination increases the persistence or the
from a time-series on wt and Yt without inertia of aggregate wages. The shape of this
further assumptions. Given such time-series negative relationship shows that increasing
This content downloaded from 198.91.37.2 on Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:24:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
VOL. 69 NO. 2 WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT III
This content downloaded from 198.91.37.2 on Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:24:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
112 AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION MAY 1979
study of compensation policy made by Rich- M. N. Baily,"Contract Theory and the Moder-
ard Lester in the late 1940's. His aim was to ation of Inflation by Recession and
investigate (through a survey of firms) a Controls," Brookings Papers, Washington
number of alternative wage setting proce- 1976, 3, 585-622.
dures: whether firms use wage surveys in , "Wages and Employment under
determining their wage scales, whether firms Uncertain Demand," Rev. Econ. Statist.,
try to anticipate future wage developments, Jan. 1974, 41, 37-50.
and whether tight labor markets influence R. J. Barro,"Long-Term Contracting, Sticky
wage policy. While far from conclusive the Prices, and Monetary Policy," J. Monet.
study is suggestive of what might be done Econ., July 1977, 3, 305-16.
using modern techniques. For example, Philip Cagan, The Hydra-Headed Monster:
although wage surveys are now used almost the Problem of Inflation in the United
universally by firms in determining wage States, Washington, 1974.
scales, there is very little information avail- Rudiger Dornbusch and Stanley Fisher, Macro-
able concerning how firms use these surveys. economics, New York 1978.
Such information would appear to be invalu- WilliamJ. Fellner,"The Core of the Contro-
able in modelling the macroeconomics of versy about Reducing Inflation: An Intro-
wage behavior. ductory Analysis," in his Contemporary
Economic Problems, Washington 1978.
IV. ConcludingRemarks , Towards a Reconstruction of Ma-
croeconomics: Problems of Theory and
The theme of this paper has been that the Policy, Washington 1976.
inflation dynamics typically associated with S. Fischer, "Long-Term Contracts, Rational
the "expectations-augmented" Phillips curve Expectations, and the Optimal Money
are significantly influenced by the interaction Supply Rule," J. Polit. Econ., Feb. 1977,
of staggered contracts as well as by expecta- 85, 191-205.
tions effects. While these ideas are implicit in M. Friedman,"The Role of Monetary Policy,"
much accelerationist research, the aim here Amer. Econ. Rev., Mar. 1968, 58, 1-17.
has been to make them explicit in order that D. F. Gordon, "A Neo-Classical Theory of
alternative hypotheses concerning the infla- Keynesian Unemployment," in Karl Brun-
tion process can be stated more clearly. The ner, and Allan H. Meltzer, eds., The Phil-
overlapping contract model described in the lips Curves and Labor Markets, Amster-
paper is closely related to a number of other dam 1976, 65-97.
models. (See George Akerlof, Baily, 1976, Robert J. Gordon, Macroeconomics, Boston
Fischer, Phelps, 1978, forthcoming, Stephen 1978.
Ross and Wachter, and J. C. R. Rowley and Richard A. Lester, Company Wage Policies,
D. A. Wilton, for example.) While the micro Princeton 1948.
foundations of such models need to be devel- R. E. Lucas,"Some International Evidence on
oped more rigorously, they seem capable of Output Inflation Tradeoffs," Amer. Econ.
improving our understandingof the dynamics Rev., June 1973, 63, 326-34.
of the inflationaryprocess within a reasonable A. M. Okun, "Inflation: Its Mechanism and
well-specified rational setting. Welfare Costs," Brookings Papers, Wash-
ington 1975, 2, 351-401.
REFERENCES G. L. Perry,"Slowing the Wage-Price Spiral:
The Macroeconomic View," Brookings
G. Akerlof,"Relative Wages and the Rate of Papers, Washington 1978, 2, 259-91.
Inflation," Quart. J. Econ., Aug. 1969, 83, E. S. Phelps,"Disinflation without Recession:
353-74. Adaptive Guideposts and Monetary Poli-
C. Azariadis,"Implicit Contracts and Unem- cy," Weltwirtsch. Arch., forthcoming.
ployment Equilibria," J. Polit. Econ., Dec. , "Introduction:Developments in Non-
1975, 83, 1183-202. Walrasian Theory," in his Studies in
This content downloaded from 198.91.37.2 on Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:24:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
VOL. 69 NO. 2 WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT 113
This content downloaded from 198.91.37.2 on Wed, 13 Jan 2016 07:24:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions