Money and the Welfare Cost of Inflation in an R&D Growth Model

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking
Year: 2013
Volume: 45
Issue: 1
Pages: 233-249

Authors (2)

ANGUS C. CHU (not in RePEc) CHING‐CHONG LAI (Academia Sinica)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

This study analyzes the effects of inflation on R&D and innovation‐driven growth. In the theoretical section, we incorporate money demand into a quality‐ladder model with elastic labor supply and derive the following result. If the elasticity of substitution between consumption and the real money balance is less (greater) than unity, then R&D and the growth rate of output would be decreasing (increasing) in the growth rate of money supply. Quantitatively, decreasing inflation in the U.S. to achieve price stability improves social welfare, and the welfare gain is equivalent to at least 0.5% of annual consumption. In the empirical section, we use cross‐country data to establish a negative and statistically significant relationship between inflation and R&D.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:wly:jmoncb:v:45:y:2013:i:1:p:233-249
Journal Field
Macro
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25