Firms' strategic pricing behavior drives gradual inflation response to shocks
Dynamic pricing decisions of firms are influenced by private information in a standard economic model. By adding individual cost variations, the model explains why overall prices change slowly after shocks, while individual prices can change significantly. Firms base their pricing decisions on both public and private information, leading to gradual inflation adjustments. The model also matches real-world data on the time between price changes. The researchers developed a method to solve these types of dynamic models with complex expectations.