Inflation Expectations with Finite Horizon Planning
Introduction
- Motivation: Macroeconomists incorporate behavioral elements into models due to cognitive limitations in processing information.
- Framework: The finite horizon planning (FHP) framework, developed by Woodford (2018), assumes agents have limited ability to evaluate all possible economic paths.
- Previous Research: Gust et al. (2022) showed that a New Keynesian (NK) model with FHP can explain inflation persistence and fit macroeconomic data better than other models.
Key Findings
- Model Implications: FHP firms' price-setting behavior leads to initial underreaction and subsequent overreaction in inflation forecasts.
- Planning Horizon: A four-quarter planning horizon can account for the predictability of inflation forecast errors and macroeconomic data.
- Parameters: The FHP model adds only two new parameters to a standard NK model, making it parsimonious yet effective.
Empirical Evidence
- Consensus Forecasts: CG (2015) found evidence of underreaction in forecast revisions, while KW (2021) provided evidence of overreaction.
- Professional Forecasts: AHS (2020) studied professional forecasters' inflation forecasts and found initial underreaction followed by overreaction.
Analytical Characterization
- Price Setting Dynamics: Analytically characterizing the dynamics of aggregate inflation and firms' inflation forecasts.
- Conditions: Two key features—finite planning horizon and updating beliefs based on past data—lead to the observed patterns in inflation forecast errors.
Model Estimation
- Estimation Strategy: Combines full-information methods using aggregate data with regression-based estimates using inflation expectations data.
- General Equilibrium Model: The FHP model in the context of a dynamic general equilibrium model (Woodford, 2018) generates inflation forecast errors consistent with empirical patterns.
Conclusion
- Implications: The FHP model provides a compelling framework for understanding inflation expectations and forecast predictability.
- Advantages: The model is parsimonious, adding only two new parameters, and remains easy to solve and use for macroeconomic analysis.
This summary captures the main points of the research, focusing on the analytical and empirical findings related to inflation expectations and the finite horizon planning framework.