Liang Wang, Associate Professor of Economics, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, will present his paper on "Credit Condition, Inflation, and Unemployment."

Abstract: 

We study the effects of the firm's credit condition on labor market performance and the relationship between expected inflation and unemployment in a new monetarist model. Better credit condition has a positive impact on the labor market as firms save on financing cost, improve profitability, and create more vacancies. Inflation a¤ects unemployment through two opposing channels. On one hand, inflation increases the firm's financing cost, which discourages job creation and increases unemployment. On the other hand, inflation lowers wages because unemployed workers carry higher real balances and suffer more from inflation compared to unemployed workers. This encourages job creation. The overall effect of inflation on employment can be positive or negative and depends crucially on the firm's credit condition. We calibrate the model to match the post-WWII US data. The calibrated model suggests a downward-sloping Phillips curve with a flexible wage setting.