Essays on macroeconomic policy

Matusche, Alexander

PDF
DissertationMatusche.pdf - Published
Download (1MB)

URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-623526
Document Type:	Doctoral dissertation
Year of publication:	2022
Place of publication:	Mannheim
University:	Universität Mannheim
Evaluator:	Krebs, Tom
Date of oral examination:	23 June 2022
Publication language:	English
Institution:	School of Law and Economics > Makroökonomik u. Wirtschaftspolitik (Krebs 2006-)
License:	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Subject:	330 Economics
Keywords (English):	macroeconomics , inequality , public investment , monetary policy , fiscal policy , unemployment
Abstract:	This dissertation consists of three self-contained chapters. They share the focus on the short-run effects of macroeconomic policies. In Chapter 1, I study a particular fiscal policy: public infrastructure investment. Using a search and matching model of the labor market, I show that an expansion in public investment can have large short-run effects on employment through an anticipation effect on labor demand. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with the role of wealth inequality for the transmission of monetary policy. In Chapter 2, I use identified monetary policy shocks to provide empirical evidence, that greater wealth inequality is associated with stronger effects of monetary policy on economic activity. In the third chapter, I develop a Heterogeneous Agent New-Keynesian model with entrepreneurs. I find that entrepreneurs are important for the transmission of monetary to output and in particular to aggregate investment. When entrepreneurs hold a greater share of total wealth their investment response to monetary policy is stronger.