Fiscal Multipliers: A Heterogenous-Agent Perspective / Tobias Broer, Per Krusell, Erik Öberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Broer, Tobías.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Krusell, Per.

Öberg, Erik, 1988-

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w28366.

NBER working paper series no. w28366

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2021.

Summary:

We use an analytically tractable heterogeneous-agent (HANK) version of the standard New Keynesian model to show how the size of fiscal multipliers depends on i) the distribution of factor incomes, and ii) the source of nominal rigidities. With sticky prices but flexible wages, the standard representative-agent (RANK) model predicts large multipliers because profits fall after a fiscal stimulus and the resulting negative income effect makes the representative worker work harder. Our HANK model, where workers do not own stock and thus do not receive profit income, predicts smaller fiscal multipliers. In fact, they are smaller with sticky prices than with flexible prices. When wages are the source of nominal rigidity, in contrast, fiscal multipliers are close to one, independently of income heterogeneity and price stickiness.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2021.