Abstract
We present microeconomic evidence on US pricing dynamics pre and post-establishment of the Bretton Woods (BW) monetary regime. We track prices of 49 goods (1172 observations) in
1938–1951 Sears, Roebuck catalogs. The average length between (nominal) price changes was over 2 years. The average was higher (2.05 years) in the pre-BW period than in the later (2.01 years). We find that prices of brand name goods were relatively rigid; three never changed
price. Price changes were larger during the 1945–1951 period than pre-BW by between 0.60
and 1.83%. Price changes displayed a higher correlation with inflation pre-BW.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 763-775 |
Journal | Managerial and Decision Economics |
State | Published - Oct 2007 |