Benedetto Molinari

University of Malaga | UMA · Department of Economic Theory and History

There is a widespread call in the academy to teach macroeconomics more homogeneously at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Current state-of-the-art research in macroeconomics obliges teachers of graduate courses to focus on dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models. At the same time, DSGE models have proven too complex for undergradu...

While the literature demonstrated that automation reduces employment in routine jobs (job polarization), its impact on wages is still unclear and the debate open. By applying Counterfactual Quantile Regressions to historical data, this paper analyzes the channels through which automation affected wage inequality in the U.S. labor market during the...

This study proposes a synthetic visual indicator with which to perform debt sustainability analysis using dynamic general equilibrium models. In a single diagram, we summarized the general equilibrium relationships among economic activity, government budget, and the maximum amount of sustainable public debt. Then, we measured sustainability using t...

The government size in developed economies expanded remarkably after the Second World War. This growth shaped the role of the government as a key player in the economic activity and the aggregate dynamics of a country. However, the way in which the government is represented in DSGE models is often reductive, containing homogeneous public spending a...

This paper assesses the role of different sources of technological change as determinants of economic growth in a group of selected OECD countries during the period 1980–2010. We consider three different sources of growth: neutral technical change associated with Total Factor Productivity, investment-specific technical change (ISTC) embodied in cap...

Aggregate data reveal that in the U.S., advertising absorbs 2% of GDP. Because the purpose of brand advertising is to foster sales, we ask whether such spending appreciably affects aggregate consumption and economic activity. This question is addressed by developing and estimating a dynamic general equilibrium model in which households’ preferences...

By applying a counterfactual quantile regression analysis to historic U.S. data, we show that the evolution of wage inequality in the lower echelon of the wage distribution was due entirely to a reduction of within-group wage inequality, which was determined, in turn, by more homogeneous remuneration paid to workers performing routine tasks. Change...

This paper provides a simulated moments estimator of the Sticky In- formation Phillips Curve. A crucial feature of this model is that inflation is a persistent process, i.e. the effect of a shock on inflation lasts in time because firms acquire information sporadically. Therefore, I propose to estimate the degree of information stickiness in the ec...

This paper quantifies the relative importance of different sources of technological progress as determinants of short-run fluctuations in the US economy. In particular, it focuses on the role of the technical innovations associated with information and communication technologies (ICT). The paper points to three main findings. First, neutral technic...

This paper studies the influence of persuasive advertising in a neoclassical growth modelwith monopolistically competitive firms. Our findings show that advertising can significantlyaffect the stationary equilibrium of a model economy in which the labor supply is endogenous.In this case, for empirically plausible calibrations, we find that the equi...

This paper provides new empirical evidence for quarterly U.S. aggregate advertising ex-penditures, showing that advertising has a well defined pattern over the Business Cycle. To understand this pattern we develop a general equilibrium model where targeted advertising increases the marginal utility of the advertised good. Advertising intensity is e...

This paper provides new empirical evidence for quarterly U.S. aggregate advertising expenditures, showing that advertising has a well defined pattern over the Business Cycle. To understand this pattern we develop a general equilibrium model where targeted advertising increases the marginal utility of the advertised good. Advertising intensity is en...

ResumenLa tesis consta de dos partes. En la primera parte se analiza la relación entre las fricciones en los flujos de información que llegan a la empresa y la persistencia del patrón de la inflación. En particular, se presenta un nuevo estimador por el modelo de Makiw y Reis (2002) Sticky Information Phillips Curve, y se aplica usando datos trimes...

I derive and estimate the theoretical second moment of Inflation from Sticky Information Phillips Curve, so to get the degree of Information stickiness in US economy in the last 50 years. The paper makes three points. First, I test whether the model is accepted by the data. I argue that the estimation strategy I use here is a more powerful test aga...

A crucial feature of the Sticky Information Phillips Curve model (Mankiw and Reis, 2002) is to generate endogenous persistence in infla- tion dynamics. In order to provide an empirical support to this theory, I propose to estimate the SIPC matching the covariance between cur- rent inflation and the exogenous (current and lagged) shocks that affect...

This paper investigates the effects of advertising in the aggregate. First, we construct a database at quarterly frequency for aggregate ad- vertising expenditures in US economy, and we report on the three main empirical regularities observed: advertising is strongly procyclical, highly volatile and very persistent over the cycle. Then, a dynamic s...