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Rational Inattention, Multi-Product Firms and the Neutrality of Money

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  • Ernesto Pastén
Abstract
I augment the rational inattention model of price-setting (in which firms have a limited capacity to process information) to allow firms to produce multiple goods. My main contribution is to highlight the economies of scale in the use of information that arise in this context, which firms exploit by acquiring information of aggregate variables: Aggregate information is useful for pricing all goods; idiosyncratic information is only useful for pricing goods it is concerned with. The model quantitatively predicts average price changes consistent with the data for the U.S., low costs for firms due to the friction, and comovement of prices inside firms. Importantly, the economies of scale in the use of information cut by four the capacity of the model to deliver money non-neutrality when firms produce two goods instead of one. Money becomes almost neutral when firms produce five goods or more.

Suggested Citation

  • Ernesto Pastén, 2012. "Rational Inattention, Multi-Product Firms and the Neutrality of Money," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 664, Central Bank of Chile.
    • Handle: RePEc:chb:bcchwp:664
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    Cited by:

    1. Shoji, Toshiaki, 2022. "Menu costs and information rigidity: Evidence from the consumption tax hike in Japan," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Fernando Alvarez & Francesco Lippi, 2014. "Price Setting With Menu Cost for Multiproduct Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(1), pages 89-135, January.
    3. Ernesto Pasten & Raphael S. Schoenle & Michael Weber & Michael Weber, 2017. "Price Rigidities and the Granular Origins of Aggregate Fluctuations," CESifo Working Paper Series 6619, CESifo.
    4. Luminita Stevens, 2020. "Coarse Pricing Policies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(1), pages 420-453.
    5. Pasten, Ernesto & Schoenle, Raphael & Weber, Michael, 2017. "Price rigidities and the granular origins of aggregate fluctuations," Working Paper Series 2102, European Central Bank.
    6. Bartosz Maćkowiak & Filip Matějka & Mirko Wiederholt, 2023. "Rational Inattention: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 226-273, March.
    7. Hassan Afrouzi, 2024. "Strategic Inattention, Inflation Dynamics, and the Nonneutrality of Money," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(10), pages 3378-3420.
    8. Andrade, Philippe & Coibion, Olivier & Gautier, Erwan & Gorodnichenko, Yuriy, 2022. "No firm is an island? How industry conditions shape firms’ expectations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 40-56.
    9. Gaetano Gaballo, 2016. "Rational Inattention to News: The Perils of Forward Guidance," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 42-97, January.
    10. Yang, Choongryul, 2022. "Rational inattention, menu costs, and multi-product firms: Micro evidence and aggregate implications," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 105-123.
    11. Luo, Yulei & Young, Eric, 2013. "Rational Inattention in Macroeconomics: A Survey," MPRA Paper 54267, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2018_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Marco Bonomo & Carlos Carvalho & Oleksiy Kryvtsov & Sigal Ribon & Rodolfo Rigato, 2020. "Multi-Product Pricing: Theory and Evidence from Large Retailers in Israel," Staff Working Papers 20-12, Bank of Canada.
    14. Konchitchki, Yaniv & Xie, Jin, 2023. "Undisclosed material inflation risk," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(S), pages 82-100.
    15. Dasgupta, Kunal & Mondria, Jordi, 2018. "Inattentive importers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 150-165.
    16. Tongkui Yu & Shu-Heng Chen, 2021. "Big Data, Scarce Attention and Decision-Making Quality," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 57(3), pages 827-856, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

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