Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 June 2017
The paper revisits the literature on real rigidities in New Keynesian models in the context of an economy at the zero lower bound. It identifies strategic interaction among price- and wage-setting agents in the economy as an important determinant of both optimal policy and economic dynamics in deep recessions. In particular, labor market segmentation is shown to have a significant influence on the length of the forward commitment to keep interest rates at zero, the magnitude of the fiscal policy responses as well as inflation volatility in the economy under optimal policy.
We are grateful for the comments received at various stages from Guido Ascari, Martin Ellison, Campbell Leith, Charles Nolan, Antonio Mele, Ioana Moldovan, Neil Rankin, Tim Willems, Simon Wren-Lewis, Francesco Zanetti, and two anonymous referees. We would also like to thank Taisuke Nakata for his help with the solution methodology.