期刊名称：IoES Working Paper Series / Institute of Economic Studies, University of Iceland
出版年度：2007
卷号：2007
出版社：niversity of Iceland
摘要：A number of models of imperfectly competitive goods markets have been used to
explain the cyclical behaviour of markups. While some imply counter-cyclical
behaviour, others predict the pro-cyclical behaviour of markups. However, the
empirical evidence is ambiguous. In sum, the data seem to show that exogenous shifts
in demand are met by increased supply at unchanged prices (see Shea, 1993, amongst
others). This either implies that firms facing rising marginal costs charge
countercyclical markups or, alternatively, that marginal cost curves are flat. On the
whole, the evidence appears to support the former possibility, that markups are indeed
countercyclical (see Bils, 1987). However, the reasons for this are far from clear. One
possibility is that markups are deliberately changed by managers ¨C desired markups
are counter-cyclical ¨C but nominal rigidities provide an equally plausible explanation
as do lags in the adjustment of price to costs.
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