We develop a general stochastic model of directed search on the job. Directed search allows us to focus on a Block Recursive Equilibrium (BRE) where agents’ value functions, policy functions and market tightness do not depend on the distribution of workers over wages and unemployment. We formally prove existence of a BRE under various specifications of workers’ preferences and contractual envir...

This paper proposes a simple prototype model that describes the complex dynamics of a sophisticated monetary economy. The interaction between the current and intertemporal financial constraints on economic units brings about irregular fluctuations at both micro and macro levels. We use qualitative dynamic analysis and numerical simulations to investigate the interaction between financial fragil...

We examine the dynamic properties of an endogenous growth model with an explicit R&D sector in order to evaluate its ability to propagate temporary disturbances into persistent fluctuations in macroeconomic variables. We demonstrate that a large proportion of the variability and persistence of measured Solow residuals can be thought of as reflecting the endogenous accumulation and adaptation of...

This paper extends the standard New Keynesian model by incorporating labor adjustment costs and overtime work. I show that labor frictions help reconcile the frequent price changes found in the microdata with the degree of sluggishness in inflation adjustment to output changes at the macro level. The introduction of labor frictions affects the dynamic behavior of economic variables (particularl...

Most quantitative studies of international real business cycle (IRBC) models require the use of approximate solution methods. We solve an IRBC model with incomplete asset markets using King, Plosser and Rebelo’s (1988) linear approximation method. We quantify the additional approximation error brought about by the existence of a unit root in the linear dynamic system and demonstrate that the sy...

Fully rational agents are allowed to optimize over expectations formation technologies in an environment where it is costly to collect and process information. It is shown in a general equilibrium framework that optimization over expectations by rational and forward oriented agents can lead to endogenous instability. Specifically, we illustrate that resulting equilibria can be both chaotic and ...

We study how total factor productivity (TFP), energy prices, and the Great Moderation are linked. First we estimate a joint stochastic process for the energy price and TFP and establish that until the second quarter of 1982, energy prices negatively affected productivity. This spillover has since disappeared. Second, we show that within the framework of a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium ...

This paper proposes an alternative explanation to recurrent hyperinflations other than bounded rationality by explicitly considering the global dynamics of an economy with credit market frictions. In this paper we show that hyperinflations are self-generated and are manifestations of the underlying global dynamic properties of an economy with perfect foresight rational agents that face credit r...

The Dynamics of Entrepreneurship: Hysteresis, Business Cycles and Government Policy This paper estimates an unobserved components model to explore the macro dynamics of entrepreneurship in Spain and the US. We ask whether entrepreneurship exhibits hysteresis, defined as a macro dynamic structure in which cyclical fluctuations have persistent effects on the natural rate of entrepreneurship. We f...

This paper develops a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with sticky prices where agents have imperfect information on the stance and direction of monetary policy. Agents respond by using Kalman filtering to unravel persistent and temporary monetary policy changes in order to form optimal forecasts of future policy actions. Our results show that a sticky price model with imperf...