Optimal monetary policy in an estimated new Keynesian model with heterogeneous sectors

Hernández–Arreortúa, KólverI develop a multisector New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model incorporating heterogeneities in the sector size, price stickiness, price indexation, and the price markup. I estimate a 12-sector version with post-1984 U.S. data using Bayesian techniques. The estimates suggest that over the sample period the Federal Reserve (the Fed) did not respond to changes in the prices of gasoline and other energy goods or changes in the price of health care, yet responded relatively more aggressively to changes in the prices of housing and utilities. I obtain multiple welfare-maximizing monetary policy schemes via simulation. The optimal schemes suggest that the Fed should focus on the prices of housing and utilities as well as the prices of food and beverages when responding to inflation. However, the welfare gains are small, suggesting that the current inflation target adopted by the Fed is almost indistinguishable from the optimal one in terms of welfare. On the other hand, more aggressive targeting of the output gap can offer much larger welfare improvement.University of Delaware, Department of EconomicsPh.D