 The network origins of aggregate fluctuationsDaron Acemoglu, Vasco Carvalho, Asuman Ozdaglar and Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Abstract: This paper argues that in the presence of intersectoral input-output linkages, microeconomic idiosyncratic shocks may lead to aggregate fluctuations. In particular, it shows that, as the economy becomes more disaggregated, the rate at which aggregate volatility decays is determined by the structure of the network capturing such linkages. Our main results provide a characterization of this relationship in terms of the importance of different sectors as suppliers to their immediate customers as well as their role as indirect suppliers to chains of downstream sectors. Such higher-order interconnections capture the possibility of "cascade effects" whereby productivity shocks to a sector propagate not only to its immediate downstream customers, but also indirectly to the rest of the economy. Our results highlight that sizable aggregate volatility is obtained from sectoral idiosyncratic shocks only if there exists significant asymmetry in the roles that sectors play as suppliers to others, and that the "sparseness" of the input-output matrix is unrelated to the nature of aggregate fluctuations. Keywords: Business cycle; aggregate volatility; diversification; input-output linkages; intersectoral network; cascades (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:upf:upfgen:1291 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra |
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