Sectoral labor adjustment and monetary policy in a small open economy

Kang Shi ()

Journal of Macroeconomics, 2011, vol. 33, issue 4, 634-643

Abstract: This paper studies the welfare implications of sectoral labor adjustment cost in a two-sector small open economy model with sticky prices. We find that, when the economy faces external shocks, if monetary policy can stabilize the real economy, then sectoral labor market adjustment cost will lead to welfare loss. However, if monetary policy such as fixed exchange rates cannot stabilize real variables, then some degree of labor market friction will improve welfare instead and the gain will be significant. As a result, the welfare gap between flexible exchange rates and fixed exchange rates decreases with sectoral labor market friction. This is because the friction can offset some of the nominal rigidity and become a substitute for monetary policy to stabilize the real economy.

Keywords: Labor adjustment cost; Exchange rate policy; Two-sector model; Welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F3 F4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: Sectoral Labor Adjustment and Monetary Policy in a Small Open Economy (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jmacro:v:33:y:2011:i:4:p:634-643

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmacro.2011.06.006

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