Inflation and the Skewness of the Distribution of Relative Price Changes: Empirical Evidence for Germany

Arbeitspapier

The present paper uses German annual data covering the period 1969-2000 to present evidence on the link between aggregate inflation and the higher-order moments of the distribution of relative price changes. Our empirical findings confirm predictions of contributions to the theoretical literature suggesting that skewness of this distribution is an important explanatory variable for the inflation rate. Further, the skewness measure also helps to explain shifts in the Phillips curve. Moreover, a structural vector autoregression reveals that the skewness measure helps to explain the variations of real output and might, therefore, serve as a measure of supply side shocks hitting the economy.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Kiel Working Paper ; No. 1059

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
• Subject: inflation ; relative prices ; distribution of relative prices changes ; Inflationsrate ; Relativer Preis ; Inflation ; Statistische Verteilung ; Schätzung ; Phillips-Kurve ; Konjunktur ; Gesamtwirtschaftliches Angebot ; Schock ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Döpke, Jörg ; Pierdzioch, Christian
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Kiel Institute of World Economics (IfW)
• (where): Kiel
• (when): 2001

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/17904
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET