Limited Nominal Indexation of Optimal Financial Contracts

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of the European Economic Association
Year: 2024
Volume: 22
Issue: 2
Pages: 575-616

Authors (3)

Césaire A Meh (not in RePEc) Vincenzo Quadrini (not in RePEc) Yaz Terajima (Bank of Canada)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

When financial contracts are not fully enforceable and firms observe their own nominal sales before the observation of the aggregate nominal price, the optimal financial contract is not fully indexed to inflation. Because of the limited nominal indexation, which is endogenous in the model, unanticipated inflation affects aggregate investment and future economic activity. The macroeconomic volatility induced by price uncertainty, however, is not monotone: It first increases and then decreases with nominal price uncertainty. We also show that the degree of nominal indexation declines with real idiosyncratic volatility and the impact of an inflation shock decreases with nominal indexation. Using firm-level data from Canada, we find that both predictions are supported by the data.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:jeurec:v:22:y:2024:i:2:p:575-616.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-29